The Dragon Boarder
by Dustnblood
Summary: Matt Haddock is a snowboard bum, and he's going to the opening of a new ski resort. As Matt prepares to enjoy the early weekend, little did he know that his family's past was going to bring him to them. Caught in a snowstorm, Matt finds shelter in a cave to find it take him to a world he thought was only a story in his family's line.
1. Prologue

Prologue

December 13, 2012; it was snowing all over the state of Utah, with the cold front that was coming in. The people in Utah didn't mind it though; it would just add to the holiday spirit as well as help with the grand opening of a new ski resort called The Alpine Heights. Drawing visitors everywhere, including California, Nevada, and all the surrounding states, it was going to be an event that was going to put all the other resorts to shame.

One of those visitors is a snowboard bum named Matthew Haddock. It being a Thursday night, Matt was going to skip school Friday and make some memories before his friends met him later that weekend. Driving his big white Dodge Ram, He couldn't help but feel a sudden jolt of anxiousness for the upcoming event. Everyone going had almost a magical thought that this event would change their expectations for a ski resort, even Matt! But to his surprise, this was going to change his life. His decision to go early put him on a one way ride to his past…


	2. Chapter One - The Prodigal Snowboarder

**Well, here's my second story! Won't be regularly updated until I finish my first, but I really wanted to get this on paper so I wouldn't forget it so easily. Please Read and Review…I also need a few opinions. Should I make this story First Person, such as "I saw the dragon..." or Third Person "Hiccup saw the dragon…" If you could state what you like and why I'd appreciate it! As usual, enjoy!**

**Update 12/3/2012: Few errors fixed…probably still a few more.**

**Chapter One – The Prodigal Snowboarder**

A white Dodge Ram was driving along the abandoned looking Highway 89 during the twilight hours. If you were someone watching from the side of the road, you'd see a light amount of snow that was falling because of the headlights illuminating the small flakes. Normally, snow while driving is frowned upon, even in a big 4X4 truck; however for this truck, it was a good thing. Inside was a young teenager named Matt Haddock, a snowboard bum. Jamming out to Linkin Park in his truck. Matt was heading to the grand opening of Alpine Heights, a new ski resort that's supposed to put all the other ski resorts in Utah to shame.

Matt laughed out loud at the very thought of the new resort, making him giddy at the thought. Enclosed ski lifts with music inside of them; free drinks and dinners for those with season permits, which he had; and special lodge rooms for those recognized as professionals. Matt was lucky enough to be considered as such. The young snowboarder accelerated in the sport, being the youngest in his community as the best snowboarder. Wearing Levi's, and a black Under Armor turtle neck, with Burton skate shoes on, Matt looked like a sharp person as well, being clean cut with slightly shaggy hair and a confident look on his face; he looked smart. The truth could not have been farther from his appearance. In fact, tonight was Thursday with tests in his Math and English classes tomorrow. And the confidence was a small lie as well. At school, Matt just kept with his three friends: Trent, Sarah, Toi from Samoa. All of them were his buddies who boarded with him, just a lot smarter than him as far as balancing work and play. The rest of the time he kept to himself, rarely speaking to others. The only time he would be outgoing was when he was out snowboarding, being himself.

Because he was so good at snowboarding, he achieved a small sponsor from Dragon Alliance; which allowed him to have all the benefits that were offered at the new resort. His dad was a big part of him being able to get it. From helping buy his gear, to paying for his ticket to go to a few competitions, his dad was a big part of his early snowboarding career. Matt slightly went into a somber mood at the thought of his dad. Turning down his music, he threw his mind back three hours ago when he was back home and loading his backpack with his snowboard gear. His dad wasn't particularly happy with his decision to forget school and go to a grand opening of another ski resort. Focusing on the conversation that he had with his parents before leaving, Matt's giddiness quickly wore away. He was in his room, packing.

"Matt…don't do this! You're already failing in Math and close to failing with two other classes! Stay home and study for the tests you have tomorrow" his dad said, with anger in his voice.

"For what, to fail again? Regardless if I stay or go, I'm going to fail them!" Matt said with a little jest in his voice, making it clear that he could care less about school. "And to study? Well that's what the springs for when the season is done. I have a full time job that I need to keep up in this short time that I have it!"

"Matt! It's a sponsorship, not a job and not big one at that. All they do is give you a new snowboard coat and boots every year; not your gas, insurance, or even your truck!" His dad argued.

"Ah…even more reason to go snowboard; to get better in order to get more sponsors." Matt laughed as he strapped his Burton Snowboard to his backpack "Also, I won the truck in a competition remember and they paid for my reservation at the new lodge! I'm pretty sure they've helped me with that! School wouldn't have done or given me anything."

Matt's dad threw his arms up in the air in frustration as he stormed out of the room, seeming to give up. His mom however, sat herself on Matt's bed. Matt knew what was coming; an attempted guilt trip. The sad thing was, was that his mom's disappointment was 100% real. There were no catches or acts to try and get Matt to stay, it was all legit and real; to which Matt grew to ignore. That was probably the one thing that caused him the most guilt, not his mom's pleadings.

"Matt…you know you're able to anything you put your mind to! This is why you're so good at snowboarding!" His mom's voice said, filled with a hefty hint of sorrow "You can equally be as good at school or anything else if you put your heart into it!"

"Mom…" Matt replied softly, changing his attitude and demeanor. He was a lot more respectful as far replying to his mom than he was to his dad. Matt guessed it was just due to the relationships he had with them individually. "I know that I can do what I want and be good at it…but I'm not just good at snowboarding, I'm great at it…I feel that if I don't live it, I'm wasting my talent."

"I'm not saying to not go snowboarding Matt, I'm saying wait for tomorrow! You're friends aren't leaving until then anyways and it will be so much more fun for you to go with other people!" His mom replied, standing up and walking over to him.

Matt could only helplessly watch as his mom grabbed him kissed his forehead. Hugging her in return, he smiled and said "I know, but I have a reservation I need to claim at the new lodge…Dragon Alliance really pulled a few strings for me to go to this. I guess they want to set up a franchise there and they want me to go and well…represent them? If that's the right way to say it."

His mom just looked at him with her face resuming the disappointed look and then turned to walk out of the door; just before leaving, she stopped with a surprised look on her face. It was his dad returning with a book in his hands.

"What now dad?" Matt asked, sincerely interested in why his dad came back, staring at the book he was holding. It wasn't an annoyed tone that most teens would reply with.

Matt's dad looked at the book he was holding with his two hands and then looked at Matt almost teary eyed. "You know the story of our ancestor Hiccup right?"

Matt rolled his eyes at this comment. "Yes of course I know the worn out story of an embarrassment turning into a hero. I know that! What's this book then?" This was the one thing that Matt had little patience for with his family. Supposedly great as warriors and fighters, as well as leaders and rulers; Matt hasn't seen any of that in his family. His dad was a lineman, working for the power company. His grandpa also worked for the power company in California, nothing too glamorous there. Matt was probably the closest one of all his family to be 'great', and that was because of snowboarding.

"I never told you why and how he became a hero…" His dad continued, un-phased with the comment. Opening the book up, his dad began to explain Hiccup to which Matt could mouth along because he's heard it so much. "Here's where I left off at," Matt's dad said, turning the page "I didn't tell you this because I didn't think you were ready; frankly I still don't think you're ready but I'm going to tell you anyways…"

Matt jumped in right at that pause "Hold on dad…I don't think I want to know now…if this is something that means a lot to you, then hold on to it! I'm not ready to accept this yet. I don't want to desecrate what you live for…please dad, not now."

Staring at his son, Matt's dad nodded and closed the book. Pulling something out of the bottom of it though, he handed Matt a dagger. "This was Hiccup's…it's been preserved and kept in prestigious shape. I want you to have it. Even if you don't believe that you were born as a leader, maybe this will help you remember to chase that which will help you. Even snowboarding."

Inspecting the dagger, Matt saw that it was very old. He was amazed that the wood for the handle was still intact! Looking at his dad, he nodded and put the dagger in his backpack. "Thanks dad…I love you."

Putting on his backpack, Matt held his snowboard boots in his left hand as he hugged his parents. Loading his truck, Matt looked through the window of his truck and waved good-bye to his parents. His love for them was strong, even if they had a few disagreements.

Matt pulled his thoughts away from home, for he just passed under a giant banner stretched across the road welcoming the guests coming to visit the new Alpine Heights ski resort. Smiling, Matt turned onto the road that lead up to the lodge. Seeing the lights from the slopes, Matt let out a whoop of joy. This is why he left early! The road was significantly busier than the old highway 89. Couples were walking with each other, hand in hand. Groups of friends were skiing and boarding down small hills to try and kill the excitement that was building in them. Cars were everywhere! Matt saw at least 6 different state license plates.

Seeing his lodge come into view, Matt kept his huge smile on his face as he pulled up. Driving under the stained wood car port, Matt got out and grabbed his gear. A bellboy ran and grabbed Matt's back pack. "I got this sir…I'll have a valet park your truck for you." Matt smiled and handed him a 20 dollar bill for his service and told him to split it with the valet. Looking around the giant lodge, the words "The Heights" were illuminated on top of the building. Under it was a banner proudly displaying a 5 star rating. "Shoot…if this is my job, I'm getting paid better than my dad!"

Walking in the door, he was immediately greeted by one of the many receptionists. "Good evening to you sir! I'll be right with you in a second."

Matt nodded and said "Take your time, I'm still soaking all this in." gesturing to the main lobby. Tables and chairs were set up for people to sit and talk. People were eating dinner on the second floor, on top of a loft. Matt was also blown away by some of the wood animal statues that were carved. Place around the main floor, the detail was amazing with all of them. Looking around, he noticed the people here were sharply dressed, almost as if this was a formal occasion. Matt quickly realized that he was probably the only snowboarder in the lodge! If not, he was definitely a minority Most of it had to be rich people who ski, which caused Matt to laugh as he looked at himself in Levi's and a black Under Armor turtle neck. "Should have worn my dress shoes…maybe that would help me be a little classier" Matt grinned to himself.

Suddenly a voice sounded behind him. "Are actually able to afford a place such as this? I'm sure that the cheapest rooms are too much for you."

Matt turned around to see an older man, probably in his 50's, with his family standing behind him; all of them in suits or formal clothes. On top of that, all of them were staring at Matt with a quizzical looks. Probably wondering why he was here.

Matt went into a cold sweat, he hated talking to someone he didn't know. Laughing to try to calm himself, he simply replied with: "I'm not paying for it." To which the man quickly responded with "Ah. Having your parents pay for you…can you point them out to me?"

Matt silently cursed at the man and also himself for saying a stupid answer. Ready to explain what he was here for, the receptionist called behind him. Grateful for the bailout, Matt quickly turned and faced the lady standing behind the counter. "Ah…yes! I think I have a reservation…" This brought a scoff from behind him. Matt flared up with anger and embarrassment; he never wanted to hit someone so bad, even if the man was older. The receptionist, confused at the scoff given by the man behind Matt asked "Very well, what's your name?"

"Matt Haddock, it may be under Matthew." He quickly replied.

After a few seconds of typing in the computer and scrolling down the screen, the receptionist smiled and said "Ah yes, Mr. Haddock! Your room is one of the suites on our top floor!"

Matt smiled at the fact that she said that loud enough for the old man to hear. Laughing, Matt said "Really!? Well I'm going to have to call my SPONSORS, and thank them." He made sure he emphasized the word sponsors so the old man could hear it and soak it up.

Smiling, the receptionist handed the card key to the bellboy who was still standing there with his snowboard and backpack. Matt followed the bellboy with a smirk on his face as he passed the family who were just staring at him. "Win for Matt" he whispered to himself.

* * *

*VVBBBBBBBBBB *VVBBBBBBBBBB *VVBBBBBBBBBB *VVBBBBBBBBBB *VVBBBBBBBBBB. Matt's alarm was going off. Struggling to find his phone that was vibrating away from him, Matt slammed his hand on the nightstand next to him in an attempt to silence the sudden annoyance. His eyes hurt as he tried to open them to see what time it was, even when he knew what it was. "_4:00 a.m._ _I'm waking up at 4:00 a.m. Why in the world am I waking up this early…_" struggling to move the covers off of him, Matt stepped onto the plush carpet. Focusing on the window that he was facing, he thought to himself: "_When did I get a window facing a mountain?_" Then it hit him! He was in The Heights lodge! He was facing the new slopes of the resort! Jumping up, the sleepiness that remained completely disappeared. Running to a chair that was used to hold his clothes, he quickly put on his Levi's and his under armor shirt on. Walking quickly to the kitchen of his suite, he grabbed the second dinner that he ordered last night and threw it in the microwave. Eating steak with a baked potato for breakfast, it wasn't too long before he was full. Running to his gear, he pulled out his snowboard coat and pants. His pants were a light grey color and his coat was coal black. Suiting up, he put on his boots one at a time, lacing them up tight and tying a triple knot to shorten up the slack the laces had left. Pulling out his unnecessary items out of his bag, he quickly filled up the water bladder that was in his bag as well. Testing to make sure the water flowed from the water bag through his hose, he deemed it usable. Putting on his Dragon Alliance beanie on as well as their goggles, he looked at himself in the mirror. The clean cut teen was now a die-hard snowboarder, equipped with name brands and sponsors pinned to his coat, goggles, and backpack. His snowboard was still strapped to the back of his backpack vertically, allowing him to move freely with it. Walking out the door, Matt looked forward to the day.

"Uh…sir?" A receptionist called out "You do know the slopes won't open for another 4 hours don't you?"

"I know I'm just going to go down a few hills before then; you know, to warm up." Matt said, slightly lying.

"Oh, of course sir, have fun!" the receptionist replied, returning his attention to his computer screen, obviously bored having to be on the graveyard shift.

Matt knew that the slopes weren't open until then, but that didn't mean that he couldn't hit them without the ski lifts! Walking out into the cold crisp air, Matt began hiking up the mountain behind the slope. Making sure that he wasn't followed or being watched, Matt continued to climb up the steep mountain side. The snow was still falling from last night, causing the snow to be fresh allowing Matt to walk silently up the mountain.

Climbing never was fun for Matt, but whenever he did, it was always a memorable ride down. He and his friends once climbed the local mountain behind their town, to snowboard down an old sheep trail that ranchers used to take their cattle or sheep down the mountain. It took them three hours to climb it in the snow, but the ride down was the most memorable one they had together. From on top of the mountain, it took them a half hour to board down into town, which they ended up in the Wal-Mart parking lot. Laughing, Matt reviewed the memory. After a few minutes of re-living the past, he returned to the present time. "_This hike wasn't going to any different as far as the energy spent walking up_" He thought to himself. An hour passed by and Matt was near the top. Excitement trumped his tiredness that he was feeling from hiking so long as he neared the summit. Sweaty and breathing hard, he reached the summit; his excitement immediately vanished into anger. The slope was fenced at the top! No other ski resort did that before! Matt just stared at the obstacle, the chain link fence that wasn't supposed to be there. After a few minutes of resting and thinking, Matt turned around and sat in the snow. "Well, that kind of ruins my plans." He yelled out loud. He didn't care if anyone heard him or not, it was how he vented his frustration.

The snow was beginning to increase, getting heavier and bigger flakes. The sun was beginning to rise because the black starless sky was beginning to turn grey. Staring at the sky and then looking down, Matt smiled as he looked at the wild side of the mountain. Trees and rocks sticking out of the snow, going down to the road lead to the lodge. Smiling, Matt decided to board down that way instead of the way he came. Grabbing his board, he strapped himself onto the board. Standing up, Matt stared one last time at the fence. Then, turning around, pulled his black goggles over his eyes and proceeded to go down the untamed side.

The first 100 feet were fine, easily dodging the few trees and rocks. Then it got tricky. Moving through the trees quickly, Matt maneuvered through the forest like he's done it before. After a few minutes of that, Matt broke out into a clearing. Carving through the snow, Matt could see that a small cliff was ahead of him. Trying to get more speed, Matt kept a straight line. "And…now!" Matt thought to himself as he ollied at the edge of the cliff. It was a good 20 foot drop and as Matt landed his jump, the fresh powder broke his fall, cushioning him as he regained his balance. Almost un-phased at the drop, Matt kept on going. Maneuvering around trees and rocks, Matt got a little air off of a few bumps that stuck out of the snow. Cruising at a fast speed, Matt saw a dead tree bent over, making a small arch. Aiming for the tree, Matt ollied once again, landing the nose of his board on the tree. The snow made the tree slick enough to grind on, allowing Matt to slide from end to end. Shouting at the end of the grind, Matt fist pumped the air. Even though his plans were changed, he was still having a good time.

After riding for 15 minutes, Matt stopped and took a look around. He should have hit the road by now. Confused as to where he was, Matt sat down in a snow bank. The snow was falling a lot harder now, making visibility a good 30 feet. On top of that, the wind was beginning to pick up, whipping the snow in Matt's face. Deciding to take shelter before the storm got worse; Matt unstrapped himself from his board. "Dad's gonna kill me when he hears this story…" Matt said grimly to himself. Carrying his board, Matt made way to some rocks surrounded by trees. Upon arriving at the rocks, Matt found a small cave that led into the mountain side. Walking in, Matt inspected the cave. It stopped the wind and snow from coming in, and it was relatively flat on the ground. Setting his gear down, Matt went back out to break some branches and get some wood. After 15 minutes of gathering wood, Matt had a substantial pile. Grabbing a small survival kit from his bag, Matt grabbed some matches and some fire starting wool. After setting the wool in a place that would help the small branches burn, Matt lit one match and the fire took hold of the wool. Within minutes, Matt had a decent fire in his cave. Resting himself against the wall of the cave, Matt looked at his watch. "_7:42,Dang it…I'm going to be late for the opening ceremony…_"Looking up from his watch to the opening of the cave, it looked like the storm was a lot worse than when he was out there just barely. Folding his arms, Matt stared at his fire. The early awakening, the hike, and the boarding were beginning to catch up to him. His eyes mesmerized by the dancing flames, began to close. It was only moments before Matt was asleep.

* * *

Stirring, Matt saw slowly woke up. He was staring at a smoldering fire with only a few coals still burning warmly. The temperature in the cave was significantly warmer now. Stretching his arms, he looked at his watch. 12:37 p.m. "Funny…it's darker now than it was at morning." Looking up to where the entrance was to see if the storm cleared, Matt found instead a white wall; shocked to find that it had completely sealed itself with snow, Matt ran to the sealed entrance and began to try and clear the snow in a panic. After a few scrapes, he realized that the snow had turned to ice because the heat in the cave caused the snow to melt a little and the water was quickly frozen while running down the side of the snow bank. Turning around to see if he could at least smash his way out, Matt noticed the cave went a lot deeper than he saw at first. Shaking his discovery from his mind, Matt kneeled down and picked up a good sized rock. Facing the ice wall, he began to scrape and pound the ice away. After quite a few hits, he finally broke through the ice only to reveal an intense blizzard outside of the hole he had made.

Relieved and also dejected because of the storm, Matt continued to clear away more of the snow to allow air to flow back in the cave. After making sure the hole was big enough for his satisfaction, Matt dropped the rock and picked up a few more pieces of wood. After setting them on the fire and coaxing it to re-ignite, Matt looked up at the hallway that went deeper into the cave. After making sure the fire would last a while, Matt grabbed a small LED flashlight that he kept in his bag. Walking down the cave, Matt was amazed that this wasn't discovered before! The cave began to get bigger and wider as he progressed through the cave. After exploring for about 5 minutes, Matt decided that he had better turn around and continue to wait out the storm.

As soon as he did so, he thought he noticed something behind him. Once again turning around, this time a lot more slowly, he noticed that there was a faint bluish glow. Turning off his light to see if it was an actual source of light, he squinted to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. They weren't! As sure as he was in the cave, there was a light ahead of him! Slightly running and jumping to speed up his progress in the cave, Matt neared a corner. From where he was currently, the light was getting incredibly brighter. Stepping around the corner, Matt had to shield his eyes because of the intensity of the light that was straight ahead of him. Pulling his tinted goggles down, he walked slowly towards the light. "So this is what it's like to go to heaven huh?" Matt whispered to himself, trying to calm his pounding heart. As he kept going, he found himself at the mouth of the cave near the top of a mountain that he's never seen before! The skies were clear and there was an ocean all around him. Where ever he came out of, it wasn't where he came in. This time there was no blizzard, no fire, no gear, just blue skies. "Where…in the good name of Haddock, am I?"

**Hope you like it! Like I said on top, I had to put this up in order to not forget it. In case you were wondering what Dragon Alliance is, it's a brand name. Google it!**


	3. Chapter Two – Back to His Roots

**This story is now back in action! Couldn't wait to continue this one because I'm currently snowboarding to my heart's content! As usual,**

**Enjoy!**

Chapter Two – Back to His Roots

Matt took a few more seconds to absorb the sight. "_What's an ocean doing in Utah?"_ Matt thought to himself _"Oh come on Matt, do you need to go back to the first grade? You're obviously not in Utah anymore!" _Matt stared at the sky, which looked real, as did the sun. The mountain he was standing on was covered in snow; in fact the entire land that he could see was covered in snow.

Stepping back, Matt ran to where the rest of his gear was at. It took him awhile to get his eyes readjusted to the dark cave, but his fire on the other end and his flashlight helped him get through. Double checking to see if the storm was still raging outside of his end of the cave, Matt quickly packed his gear in his bag. Snacking on a Clif bar, Matt made his way back to the wonder he had discovered.

_"This couldn't be a giant underground cave! I mean I'm not book smart, but I know that the sun isn't in the earth!"_ Matt frantically thought as he neared the entrance. Pulling his goggles over his eyes again to shield them from the brilliant light, Matt stepped out of the cave. This time looking behind him, Matt noticed that he was near the top of the mountain. Slinging his backpack on with his snowboard strapped in, Matt began to climb to the peak. After a few minutes of climbing to the top, Matt saw that the ocean was all around him; he was on an island.

_"Ok seriously…where am I?"_ Matt asked himself. Sitting down on the peak, and taking in the sight for a second time, Matt then noticed something way in the distance; it seemed to be flying. Curious, and also dying to board, Matt removed his snowboard from his backpack and began to strap himself in. making sure that the bindings were tight; Matt pushed himself up and began cruising down the mountain. It was pretty steep, so getting speed wasn't too hard for him.

Carving down the mountain, Matt was going so fast that he could actually go up the mountain for a little bit. Brushing the powder like snow with his glove as he turned and twisted down the mountain, Matt was making quick progress down the massive mountain. About half-way down the mountain, Matt stopped to see if he could make out the flying object.

Whatever it was, it was heading towards him. _"That's an oddly shaped plane…"_ He thought to himself _"are its wings moving?"_ Deciding to wait and see what it was, Matt sat down never taking his eyes off the object. After a few more moments of balancing on his board, he realized that it wasn't a plane or vehicle at all; it was a creature! Black and sleek looking, the thing looked mean.

Not wasting a second, Matt quickly pooped his board and began flying down the mountain side. "Should have stayed at the cave!" Matt said angrily to himself. At the base of the mountain was a forest; if he could get down there, he might have a chance to lose it!

Flying down the mountain side, Matt was leaving a snow tail as his board cut through the fresh snow, making him a lot easier to spot; from the black and gray snowboard gear he was wearing. This was confirmed when he heard a roar above him. It was unlike anything that he ever heard! It was like a lion with…a bear! But flying! Matt never even looked up, he just kept his eyes on the tree line.

"What's that!?" A voice called behind him "Hey! Stop!"

_"Crap! Someone's behind me now!?"_ Matt thought frantically to himself. Turing his head quickly to see who yelled at him, Matt was struck with horror as he saw the beast that was following him because it had a rider! And it wasn't just a beast! It was a dragon!

Facing forward again, Matt carved sharply to the left, letting the dragon shoot right by. Heading in his new direction, Matt saw the dragon banking towards him. Carving to the right to lose his pursuers, Matt crouched himself to get more speed. Now entering into the trees, Matt carved in between them to give the small advantage of being harder to find, although if they really wanted to, they could just follow the trail that he was leaving with his board.

After a few seconds of flying through the forest; Matt slid silently under a tree, stopping smoothly and lying down in the snow. _"Should have stayed at the cave..."_ Matt whispered to himself. His dad was never going to let Matt board again after this story. _"Oh wait, I forgot. NO ONE is going to here about this. I mean Dragons!? Ha! No one's going to believe me about this!"_

Matt froze as he heard a roar above him. Looking through the branches, he could see the black dragon flying in a big circle over the forest. _"Just wait him out Matt…"_ He thought to himself_ "You have all day to wait…"_

"SQUAAWWKK!" A sound came from his left side. Turning quickly away from the black dragon, Matt realized another dragon was flying above his left side! A blue one and it also had a rider!

"Hey! What's up?" The second rider called out. It was a girl's voice.

"I saw something! It was fast, but almost sliding on the snow! I've never seen anything like it! It was black and grey, but that was all I could really see!" the firsts voice said.

"What? Are you sure you just weren't seeing things?" The girls voice replied.

"Look! You can see its trail entering the forest." The boy's voice said excitedly.

Matt panicked at this. Pushing himself up, Matt began to board through the trees again; trying to get speed back. The slope wasn't as steep as before, but it was enough to get going.

"Look! There it is again!" The boy's voice called out again.

_"Crap!"_ Matt thought. Getting enough speed now to at least maneuver a bit, he moved swiftly through the trees. Suddenly, Matt found himself in a clearing. Turning around to see how far he was ahead of the two dragons, he was horrified to see them right behind him.

"That's a person!" The girl yelled in astonishment.

"He's heading right for the cliff gap!" The boy yelled back.

Matt's focus turned to ahead of him and saw that the boy was right! He was heading right for a gap! Seeing a knoll next to the cliff, Matt angled himself to it and prepared himself to jump the gap. Either way, it was death if he stopped or if he missed the jump.

"Stop!" The boy called out. Matt wasn't just going to give in; he was going to make this. As he felt his board be lifted by the small knoll, Matt felt the weightlessness of being airborne. Seeing the other side of the gap, Matt pulled his knees to his chest to make most of the air that he was getting. Nearing the other side, Matt saw that he wasn't going to make it! Reaching out, Matt's body slammed into the side of the cliff, but was able to catch a root. Dangling from the cliff, he quickly looked down and estimated that he was a good 50 feet from the ground. Trying to pull himself up, Matt heard something land in front of him. Looking up, he looked right into the black dragons eyes. Losing all composure of his body, Matt let go of the root and fell down the cliff.

Matt couldn't remember much of the fall, but he found himself looking up from a snow bank. He saw the two dragons fly down the gap and land in front of him. The two riders both jumped off and ran towards him; that was when Matt fell into a black world.

* * *

Astrid and Hiccup ran to the unconscious person that was running from them, with their dragons behind them also curios about the new individual.

"Who is this guy?" Astrid asked, kneeling next to Matt. "He's got something over his eyes…Think it blocked his vision?" She said pointing to the goggles over Matt's face.

Hiccup shrugged as he tenderly took them off of Matt. Handing them to Astrid, he noticed the Dragon Alliance Symbol on the side of the goggles. "Well that's a curious symbol right there."

Astrid looked at the dragon icon and then put them over her eyes. "Hiccup!" she said excitedly "You can see through this thing!" Looking up at the blue sky from the gap, she kept on looking around in them.

"Astrid! Help me get this guy out of this…sled?" Hiccup said tugging on Matt's bindings to his board.

After a few minutes of messing with the bindings, the two eventually got Matt out of his board.

"That's different…" Hiccup said staring at the snowboard. "I've never seen anything like this before!"

"Look at his coat! It's that dragon symbol on his back!" Astrid said as she lifted Matt out of the snow bank.

Hiccup took his eyes off of the sled and looked at the dragon symbol. "I wonder what it means;" He asked out loud "I don't think he's an outcast do you?"

Astrid shook her head and said "He doesn't smell like one that's for sure." Carrying Matt to her dragon Stormfly, she laid him over the saddle and began to walk out of the gap. Hiccup observed the board for a few more seconds and then picked it up and followed Astrid out, running to catch up with her.

"I guess we'll find out as soon as he wakes up!" Hiccup said smiling.

* * *

The world slowly began to form around Matt as he started to wake up. He was in something soft. A bed? Matt relaxed at this thought; maybe he was home, just having a bad dream. Shifting a little to try and get a better look around where he was at. Looking through a window, he could tell it was night from the moon shining in. Taking a second to rest a little more, Matt looked forward from where he was laying down. His heart sank as he saw two figures sitting around a fire in the middle of the room. Right next to one of the two was a black dragon, lying down.

_"So it wasn't a dream…it really happened…I was chased by a…dragon!"_ Matt thought to himself. _"Now I'm a prisoner…in an unknown world, never to see home again."_ The thought made him slightly whimper, trying keep the fear and anxiety down inside of him. This caught to the attention of the dragon as he perked his head up towards where Matt was laying.

"He awake Toothless?" The boy asked.

_"Toothless huh?"_ Matt thought _"Strange name for a DRAGON!"_

Matt saw the boy stand up from where he was sitting and carry a candle towards him. Matt thought of faking being awake, but at this point, he could care less of what happened to him.

Setting the candle down on a night stand next to Matt, Hiccup sat on a stool next to the bed. "Hey…how're you feeling?" He asked

_"Why's he asking me this? I was chased by two dragons, fell off a cliff, woke up in a stranger's house, AND THEN asks how I'm doing!?" _Matt screamed in his head. This was what he wanted to say, but only whispered "I don't know…"

"Ah…well, your awake, that's a start!" Hiccup said smiling "And you able to move around a little! We were worried that you might have broken something after your fall!"

_"He's concerned about me?" _Matt thought "Yeah, well I don't think I'm completely well…"

Hiccup was about to say something when Toothless stuck his head into Matt's face. Matt froze up when the two giant eyes glared at him.

"Toothless! Give him some room!" Hiccup said, pulling Toothless back "Sorry about that! He gets excited with new visitors!"

_"Visitors!? Dragon as a pet!?"_ There were so many questions that were running through Matt's mind, but could only ask the most basic one. "Is he friendly?"

Hiccup looked a little shocked at this, and then said: "Of course! I don't know why you ran from us in the beginning! We tried to stop you before you jumped off the cliff!"

"Sorry, but…I didn't think dragons existed! No one's seen one before!" Matt said staring at Toothless, still not at ease.

"Really!? What about your coat, the symbol on the back? And your…" Hiccup struggled to find the words to describe the goggles "Eye covers? If that's what they're called."

Confused, Matt thought for a second about what Hiccup was saying. Then it hit him! His gear was gone! Panicked, Matt quickly looked around for his stuff, finding it in the corner of the house tucked away and hanging up.

"Oh good…I'm glad you didn't get rid of that stuff…" Matt whispered pointing

"Are you kidding!? I have so many questions about it!" Hiccup said laughing "Especially that sled!"

"Heh, well that's first called a snowboard…You stand on it instead of sitting on it." Matt chuckled. He was beginning to feel a little more comfortable, but was still not at ease. "and the coat! Well, that's just a brand name called Dragon Alliance, having nothing to do with dragons!"

Hiccup nodded in understanding. "I see, so…nothing to do with dragons…at all?"

Matt shook his head, saying: "Nope, just a cool name! and cool stuff! Here, I'll show you all of it!"

Struggling to get up, a hand came out of nowhere and pushed him back into bed. "Not yet you won't…Your still going to rest at least until tomorrow."

Looking up at where the voice was coming from, Matt saw a giant man with a monstrous beard. It scared him honestly. "O…Ok…" he whimpered, not wanting to disagree with the behemoth of a man!

Laughing, the man said "I'm Stoick the Vast! Chief of Berk!"

_"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Chief!? Where am I!?"_ Matt thought to himself, but thought it better to ask that later _"Berk!? Where's that?"_ Finally collecting himself, he whispered "…nice to meet you…"

Laughing Stoick then looked to Hiccup. "Did you ask his name or where he's from?"

"Oh! I totally forgot!" Hiccup said slapping his forehead "I meant to ask you right when you woke up!"

"Matt…Matt Haddock…" he replied, thankful for the change in the subject "I'm from Utah! Although I bet you never heard of it before, considering I never heard of Berk before!"

"Really!? My last name is Haddock too!" Hiccup said excitedly "And your right! I never heard of Utah before! Have you dad?"

"No I haven't…" Stoick said putting some thought into his head.

"Well, I'm Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third" Hiccup said sitting up straight "Kinda funny how that works out!"

Matt froze when he heard this. _"HICCUP HADDOCK! From my families lineage!?" _ This was the first time he heard Hiccup's name! Matt was breathless, only able to say "I…I think I'm a descendant from you!" to which he promptly passed out again.


	4. Chapter Three - A New Old Life

**Thanks for the support! Here's another chapter! Please tell me how I can be better as far as writing and dialog or anything else! As usual,**

**Enjoy!**

Chapter Three – A New Old Life

Matt's world, once again, began to form; this time with a brilliant light shining through the window. _"Daytime already?" _He thought. Finally adjusting his eyes to the light, he looked at where the fire was when he woke up earlier. He didn't see anything from his view, but he could hear someone talking.

"He awake yet Hiccup?" A girl's voice asked. It was the same voice from the one that chased him yesterday.

"Not yet, he's had quite a rough time though, so I don't know when he'll actually get up." Hiccup's voice replied. "

"Come on! I want to see how tough this guy is!" An annoying boy's voice said.

_"Never heard that voice before…"_ Matt observed to himself

"I'll get you guys when he wakes up; right now he probably needs rest after the fall he took yesterday." Hiccup answered.

"All right Hiccup, we'll be up at the academy! Meet us there when you can!" The girl's voice said again "Bring him up if he's able to!"

"Sounds good! See ya' in a bit!" Hiccup called out.

Matt could hear roaring from other dragons as they flew away, giving slight anxiety at the thought. He still wasn't comfortable around those things. Hearing Hiccup coming closer, Matt closed his eyes. He didn't want Hiccup to know he was eavesdropping.

"Well bud…I guess were staying in here for a while…still looks like he's out cold." Hiccup said with a tinge of depression in his voice. Matt decided to stir a little bit to give Hiccup something to look forward to.

Slowly shifting in his bed, Matt started to flutter his eyes; while silently congratulating himself for good acting. "Ohh…where am I?"

"Well I spoke to soon!" Hiccup said smiling and walking over to the bed "Feeling better?"

"I guess…I mean, I just passed out again after finding out that we might be related! That rocked my world more than the fall from the cliff!" Matt said, smiling a little bit at the joke. Truth was, his world was still rocked by the thought that he may have just went back in time to his ancestor! He was going to have to take time to swallow that bit of information!

"Ah! Yeah about that," Hiccup said, reaching over to grab something. Matt strained his head to see what Hiccup was reaching for, to see that it was a bowl of soup. "What makes you think that? Do you know for sure?" Hiccup handed the bowl to Matt, who graciously accepted.

"Well, yes and no." Matt said as he dipped the spoon that was already in the bowl "My dad was pretty religious when it came to our family history and always talked about a 'Hiccup Haddock'. I never really studied that stuff myself, so I only know by word of mouth." He finished the sentence by swallowing the spoonful of soup. _"Hmmm….chicken soup? Hah! I guess that it is an old remedy!"_ Matt thought as he savored the flavor.

"I see, and there was nothing about dragons in our history?" Hiccup asked quizzically.

"Well, like I said, I never studied the stuff myself so I honestly don't know. However, my dad tried to tell me something else that he said I'd never believe. My guess is that it was about dragons, and he was right! If he told me I would have thought our family was insane!" Matt said finishing a few more spoonful's of soup.

"So you never really knew your past?" Hiccup replied.

"Not really, no. If dad hadn't talked about your name so much I doubt I'd recognize it." Matt replied and then continued "To be honest, there's still a chance that we're not even related!"

Hiccup nodded but replied with: "But our last names match, that's a pretty good start!"

"Agreed, I guess that's a pretty big hint." Matt concluded as he finished the rest of the soup. Already energy was returning to his body; not eating for a day and half really made Matt starved without him realizing it.

"I hope I'll be a little more entertaining than you family history!" Hiccup said smiling "Who knows? You might be able to help to answer questions your dad has!"

Matt laughed as he set the bowl down on the night stand. Starting to move the covers, Matt saw that he was stripped down to his boxers. "Hey…uh…I never thought I'd ask this, but, where's my pants?"

Hiccup laughed as he walked towards the corner of the house where Matt's gear was laid out. Grabbing the blue Levi's, He tossed them to Matt who promptly put them on. Toothless, who was pretty quiet up to that point, began to sniff Matt's gear. "Oh! Will you show me what your 'snowboard' does and how it works?"

Laughing, Matt said: "Sure! We just need a small hill!"

Hiccup who was rubbing Toothless' head, replied "Sweet! There's one by the blacksmith shop! Let's go there first!"

Matt began to put on his snowboard clothing; first the grey pants, then the black coat. After zipping up the coat, Matt began to tie his snowboard boots on. Putting on his goggles and beanie hat, Matt picked up the board that was leaning against the wall. "Ready?"

* * *

The walk to the blacksmith shop wasn't too far, but was still a walk. Matt was already receiving some quizzical stares from the people of Berk. It also took Matt some getting used to realizing that he was in the past! Things definitely looked different as far as clothing and such. Weapons and armor was an everyday thing! People walking around with axes, swords, shields, etc! The list just kept going!

"You guys all look like Vikings!" Matt said quietly to Hiccup "You know…with the helmets and such."

A shocked look appeared on Hiccups face and then laughed "You really don't know your history do you? We ARE Vikings!"

Matt looked at Hiccup with an even more shocked look. _"I'm a Viking!?"_ He thought to himself. A voice shouted his name, slightly startling him. "Oi! Hiccup! Matt! Come over here!" It was Stoick's voice.

Looking at the direction that the shout came from, Matt saw two Vikings in the blacksmiths shop. Following Hiccup and Toothless, Matt kept his distance from the new Viking.

"How's my grandson doing?" Stoick said chuckling.

"Ahh….hem, well we don't know that for sure!" Matt stuttered "Just kind of jumped to a conclusion."

"Haha, well that was a good conclusion!" Stoick said "Considering we have the same last names!"

"Wait just a second Stoick…" The other Viking jumped in "This is your…grandson? When did Hiccup have any…"

"Gobber!" Hiccup shouted "I don't have any kids! You should think before even asking that!"

"Well Stoick asked how his grandson was doing! I was confused!" Gobber replied defensively.

"Well…you see Gobber" Hiccup began to explain "He's not from here…he's from a place called Utah!"

"But how does that make him Stoick's grandson!?" Gobber yelled in confusion.

"Uh…well…I'm actually not even from this time!" Matt stammered in "I'm from what you can call 'The Future'. I may be a descendent of Hiccup!"

"…Ehhhh what!?" Gobber asked very confused.

"He may be related to us!" Hiccup said throwing up his hands in the air. "Let's just leave it there!"

"Alright, for my sake, I'll go with that!" Gobber said smiling "Well…what's your name!?

Matt realized that he didn't introduce himself! "Matt! Matt Haddock".

"Oh! So you are related!" Gobber said smiling "I'm Gobber! Let me be the first to welcome ya' to Berk!"

"Thanks! It's a little better than being chased off a cliff!" Matt said smirking at Hiccup who was frowning at the remark.

"I tried to stop you!" Hiccup said to defend himself from the look that Gobber was giving him "I didn't know he never saw a dragon before!"

Matt laughed at Hiccup who was defending himself. "Well want to see a snowboard in action?"

"A what?" Gobber asked with Stoick looking at Matt with a puzzled look.

"It's like a sled, except that you stand on it instead of sit." Matt replied "These things on the board are called bindings; they keep me strapped to the board."

"A pain to get out of" Hiccup threw in "It took me and Astrid forever to get you out of them!"

"Astrid?" Matt asked.

"A friend you'll meet soon enough." Hiccup replied, motioning to carry on.

"Right, so the bindings strap my boots to the board, allowing me to jump, turn, or move without falling off or out." Matt sat his board on the ground and proceeded to strap himself to it. Gobber, Hiccup and Stoick all looked intensely; to make sure they didn't miss anything.

After strapping in his last foot, Matt pushed himself up and began to twist around, swinging the board this way and that. "See? Keeps me to the board." Walking to the edge of the small hill next to the shop by balancing on one end of his board and then to the other, Matt looked like a penguin, waddling away; this brought a few chuckles from Stoick and Gobber, along with other passer byers. Finally arriving at the crest of the hill, Matt looked at the small crowd gathering around him and then pulled his goggles down. Balancing on the back end of his board, Matt swung the tip around and brought it down the hill; allowing him to start sliding forward. It didn't take long for him to get speed and soon enough he was doing small carves in the hill. A few people whooped in amazement while others just stared at the sight. Sliding fast enough, Matt lined himself up to a stone wall about three feet high. Nearing the fence, he ollied the board and grinded on the boards nose for about ten feet. Switching stances, Matt landed doing a simple 180 to which he promptly ended at the bottom of the hill.

People from on top ran down to Matt, including Hiccup. "That was amazing! What else can you do in that thing!?" He asked excitedly pushing his way through the small crowd that gathered around Matt.

"Honestly, that wasn't too hard…" Matt said confidently. This was one area that he knew he was the best at and didn't have to be scared. "But in answer to your question, you can do a lot more with snowboards. If I had a bigger hill I'd have no problem showing you!"

Hiccup then replied "Well I saw how fast you could go yesterday, I was impressed with that! So…I have two more questions about your 'gear'".

"Alright, shoot!" Matt said unstrapping the bindings in less than seconds.

"Ok three! How did you do that so fast!?" Hiccup stared at Matt's bindings.

"Practice? I don't know. I can undo them mid sliding!" Matt said grinning as he picked up his board. "You get better at it as you go I guess!"

"Ok and second. Your coat! Does it keep you warm? I mean it felt thin to me and it's not made out of furs or pelts!"

A second Viking jumped in "And why are you dressed so…weird?"

Matt laughed at that comment and then replied "Because I'm a weird guy! No just kidding! It's snowboard gear from where I come from! If I was originally from here, I'm sure I'd be dressed a lot different. And yes! It keeps me warm! In fact I have zippers to help me cool off when I get to warm!" Matt then pointed to the zippers that were under his arms and opened them up; revealing a mesh that allowed air to rush in.

"Last one!" Hiccup said writing something down in a book that he seemed to pull out of nowhere. "What ARE those things over your eyes!? I mean I can't see through them from here, but you can see through them on the other end! I don't get it!"

"Goggles." Matt replied simply "They protect my eyes from the cold, snow, or anything else thrown at them. I can see better when it's sunny, because it tints the glare off the snow and sun as well. They're actually pretty essential to all boarders."

"You must be the best then huh?" Hiccup said as he kept on writing stuff in his book. This actually seconded by a few other Vikings in the crowd.

Matt laughed at this and said: "Not even close! I'm good; I can compete and win a few competitions, but the best? Nah…" Matt wanted so badly to pull up Youtube and show them Shawn White clips. "Let's just say that there are those that are completely ridiculous when it comes to snowboarding."

Toothless then entered the crowd, running his head into Hiccup. "Oof! Ok, ok, buddy; Matt, I want to ask a few more questions, but Toothless wants to go! Want to come with me?"

Matt froze at the invitation and asked softly "Like…fly?"

Though it was his intention, Hiccup saw that Matt looked nervous about the thought of riding a dragon and quickly said: "No, no, I meant walk with me to the academy! I have some friends I want you to meet!"

Matt remembered the conversation he overheard in the morning. Nodding, Matt said: "Oh! Sure! I'd like that."

Toothless gave Hiccup and annoyed look as they started to walk to the arena, to which Hiccup glared back sending a warning to not push it.

Matt continued to tell Hiccup about snowboarding as they slowly made their way to the arena.

* * *

"Hey everyone! I have someone I want you to meet!" Hiccup said as he walked through the gate of the arena now academy.

Matt was told everything about the arena; its history, old role, and now new purpose. Amazed at the size of it, Matt was almost in a daze just looking at the double gate!

" 'Bout time!" a girls voice sounded. That wasn't the girl's voice he heard before.

"Is he ok?" a guy's voice asked. That one sounded sheepish almost, like a shy kid.

"Guys hold on, he's coming right now!" Hiccup said, turning around.

Matt walked down the slant slowly revealing Hiccup's friends to his line of sight. First one he noticed was a beautiful blonde, leaning against an axe. Next to her was the blue dragon that chased him yesterday! _"So she's Astrid…"_ Matt thought to himself. Next was a bigger guy, well big an understatement, this guys was huge! _"He had to at least weigh 180-200 pounds!"_ The next person he saw were actually two of them, a boy and a girl; they looked similar, you could definitely tell they were related. The last one was another guy, he was big, but not just fat. He actually looked strong.

"What's he wearing?" The boy next to the girl that looked like him asked.

"Guys! Let me introduce him first!" Hiccup said a little annoyed "This is Matt. He's a snowboarder from where he comes from."

A look on Hiccup's face told Matt not to say anything about being related to which he slightly nodded. "Hey, nice to meet chya!" Matt said giving a slight wave with his hand "Before you ask questions, I'd like to know your names if that's cool."

"Astrid." The beautiful blonde said, moving her hair out of her face.

"Fishlegs…" The bigger kid muttered. It was everything for Matt to not laugh after hearing the name.

"Ruffnut." The other girl said

"Tuffnut" The guy said that was next to her

Then simultaneously, they both said "We're twins" To which one smacked the other in the head.

_"Ah! Well I was right about them being related!"_ Matt thought.

"I'm the mighty Snotlout!" The strong looking boy said, flexing his biceps. "Every girl falls for me!"

"…yeah right…" Astrid muttered rolling her eyes and shouldering her axe. Walking up to Matt she said "Quite a fall you took back there at the cliff!"

"Ah yeah, well I never really well…seen dragons before, so seeing two of them behind me kinda scared the crap out of me!" Matt replied letting his board slide a little to rest one tip on the ground.

"So what is that thing?" Astrid asked pointing to the board.

"It's called a snowboard, you stand on it and it slide over the snow! As you saw yesterday." Matt said smiling a little bit.

"Hmm…well sorry for chasing you! Stormfly is actually really nice!" Astrid said as her blue dragon walked next to her.

Matt started getting a little anxious, but not as bad as when Toothless stuck his face in Matt's! "I bet!" He whispered staring at the dragon

"Ah Meatlug is the friendliest!" Fishlegs said hugging the giant boulder of a dragon, who in turn licked his face.

"Our dragon is the coolest!" Ruffnut shouted.

"Yeah! He destroys stuff!" Tuffnut followed up! Both of them high fived each other after that comment.

_"Just what I wanted to hear…"_ Matt thought, shaking his head a little.

"Oh yeah! None can compare to Hookfang!" Snotlout shouted boasting his chest out "He's the most feared dragon of all!"

"From a Night Fury!" Fishlegs pointed out.

"A Night Fury?" Matt asked "What's that?"

"It's Toothless!" Hiccup said smiling rubbing Toothless' head. "Supposed offspring of lightning and death itself!"

"Oh…great!" Matt said, his facial expression falling.

Laughing the group then asked Matt to demonstrate snowboarding for them, interested in what he could do.

"Eh…maybe later!" Matt said, looking at Hiccup "I think Toothless wants to fly!"

"You sure you don't want to come?" Hiccup asked.

"Yeah! I mean yes! I want to watch and see what you guys can do. The only sight of some riding a dragon I have is behind me and chasing me!" Matt said laughing.

"All right! Suit yourself!" Hiccup said as he mounted Toothless who almost was giddy with change of plans. Everyone else was also mounting they're dragons. For the first time, Matt noticed something on Hiccups' leg. "Hey Hiccup…What happened to your leg?" He said pointing to the metal hook like foot.

"I'll tell you later! It's actually quite a tale!" Hiccup said smiling. With that, all the riders shot out of the arena's gate. Matt ran to the entrance to see the group goofing off in the sky. He was amazed at how cool they actually were.

_"Maybe I'll be comfortable enough to ride one…"_ Matt thought as he watched Hiccup fly higher and higher _"Maybe someday!"_

* * *

Matt was sitting with the group at the Great Hall, each talking about what they did on their dragons that day. Matt was fascinated with the stories being told.

"Hookfang and I both destroyed a pillar in the sea!" Snotlout said bragging.

"Uh-huh, define a 'pillar'?" Fishlegs asked "I saw you land on a 5 foot something sticking out of the water to which it fell over, but I must be mistaken."

Snotlout shot Fishlegs an angry look while the twins burst out laughing.

The group was having fun, and Matt was excited that he was at least a little bit a part of it. "Man, you guys must be on top of the world! I mean even just the security that the dragons give you guys! Berk must be the safest place anywhere!"

"Eh…well, we still have trouble." Astrid said as she finished drinking out of a mug "There's one island that won't stop coming against us…"

"Really? Who?" Matt asked, his interest was perked a little at this.

"Well, the island natives are called 'Outcasts', but the leader is Alvin the Treacherous. He's a pretty bad dude…" Hiccup threw in "Twice he's tried to get me or the Dragon book."

"The Dragon Book?" Matt said a little confused.

Astrid shot a warning glance at Hiccup, who promptly ignored her. "Yeah, it contains all our knowledge about the dragons that we know of. If he gets that, he learns how to train dragons as well."

"Whoa…so he's pretty ambitious if he's done that twice then." Matt replied.

"Eh no big deal, if he shows up again, I'll just send him back where he came from!" Snotlout said laughing, to which everyone rolled their eyes, even Matt.

"Tell you what, since you're here, why don't you come to the Academy with us and you can see what we do!" Hiccup said excitedly.

To be honest, Matt didn't want to do anything with dragons, even though it would be cool to ride one. But Hiccup was extending an invitation, and he more or less saved his life! To turn this down would be pretty low on his part. "Well, I guess so! I have no idea how long I'll be here, but yeah, I'd enjoy that!"

The group was excited about Matt watching them, but Astrid seemed a little on edge.

Little did the group know, a few ships were sailing to Berk from Outcast Island, seeking exactly what they were talking about.


	5. Chapter Four – Here to Stay

**Sorry that this took me forever to post! School, work, snowboarding, horses, dates…yeah, I've been pretty busy! Here you go!**

**Enjoy!**

Chapter 4 – Here to Stay

Clang! A sound of a pot rang threw the house. Matt quickly woke up from his bed in the middle of the main room of Hiccups house. Looking around, he saw Stoick next to the fire, stirring something in a pot hanging over the flames; making a bunch of noise all the while.

Resting his head back on the pillow, Matt decided to get up and not fight the annoying noise. Stepping out of his bed, Matt pulled on his Levi's and snowboard pants. Walking to the fire, he said "Morning Stoick"

"Morning Matt…" Stoick said looking up at him "Sleep well?"

"Very!" Matt replied smiling, sitting himself down across from Stoick "The best I've had in a few days!"

Stoick nodded, stirring the breakfast a few more times. Casually, Stoick then asked: "You think you'll go back to your home?"

Matt was slightly caught off guard with this question; honestly he hadn't even thought of home, mom, dad, or his friends.

"I-I dunno! I honestly haven't thought about it, but I guess if the opportunity rises, I guess I would." Matt chewed on his own reply, and then asked in return: "Do you want me to go?"

"Well, not because I or the people don't like you, but I don't know if it's right that you're here. If Hiccup and I are your ancestors, I just don't think that it's meant to be that way you know…" Stoick replied thoughtfully. "Again, it's not because I don't like you."

Matt thought on this, it's true that he had never thought of the effect he would have, not just his ancestors, but the past as a whole! "I see what you're saying, I'll try to leave as soon as I can then…which is a bummer, I really enjoy it here, even if I have to get used the dragons!"

Stoick chuckled a little bit at this, saying "Honestly, you'll never get used to them!"

Smiling, Matt began to focus on the fire, watching the logs get consumed by the red and orange flames. Now his thoughts went from living in Berk to his family back home. It's been two days since he arrived in Berk, and his parents were going to be expecting him coming home later tonight. His friends probably alerted the ski patrol when they couldn't find him as well; it might be a better idea to leave sooner than later.

"I think I'll leave today…" Matt said out loud, still staring at the fire "I can head back up to the cave I came from and just go home."

Stoick nodded, and then said "Good, like I said before Matt, I just don't think it's right that you stay here with your kin from your past; but don't think I want you to leave!"

"No, it makes sense why I need to go, I'm honestly not sure how I got here in the first place or why the cave led me here, but I'll leave today…please know that I understand that it's not because you dislike me; it's just the way it's supposed to be." Matt replied, finally taking his eyes off the fire. "Think I'll start hiking after breakfast, it's a long way up."

"Morning dad! Morning Matt!" Hiccup's voice called out from on top of the stairs.

Looking up, Matt saw Hiccup and Toothless walk down the steps, both seemed to have a smile on their faces. "You guys look happy!" he said smiling as he continued to watch the two.

"Well, it's a beautiful morning and we're taking you to the academy! It's not often we have a visitor with us!"

"You're taking him to the arena?" Stoick asked to re-affirm what he had heard.

"Yeah, just to show him what we do with the dragons, it'll be fine!" Hiccup said smiling

Stoick looked at Matt and then shrugged. "Fine, just don't be all day Matt."

"What's going on today?" Hiccup asked Matt quizzically.

"Just having to take care of some stuff…" Matt said smiling, covering up the slight pain he was feeling. He didn't really want to leave, even though he knew he was going to have to. He enjoyed Hiccup and his friends; shoot, he enjoyed every one of Berk. But his world was not in this one, so he would have to go. "Might have to leave…" He said grimly

Hiccup shot a look at his dad who quickly replied with: "Son, he's not of our world, it's not right for him to be here. I don't want him to leave just as you don't want him to leave, but he has to! He has family and friends also!"

"So…we're not taking you to the arena?" Hiccup asked Matt, obviously a little hurt.

"I'm sorry Hiccup…I do need to go. My friends who were supposed to meet up with me are probably searching for me; man, I'm willing to bet that they have multiple search parties out there for me!" Matt replied "I can't just leave them hanging!"

Nodding, Hiccup pursed his lips, absorbing what was going on. "Your leaving right now then aren't you…"

Matt's facial expression fell as he saw the disappointment in Hiccup's eyes. "I'm afraid so Hiccup…I'm afraid so…"

Pushing a smile onto his face, Hiccup looked at Matt and then said: "Well, I'll have to give you a ride! That mountain is impossible to climb in the winter!"

Matt never thought about that before. Thinking back to the cave, Matt realized that the slope was fairly steep! "Ah…well yeah….hmm…I guess I have no choice! I'll have to ride with you on Toothless!" He finally responded, a slight grin was appearing on his face out of excitement and complete nervousness.

Hiccup's smile started to turn more genuine at this and said: "Trust me; it'll be a good experience!"

* * *

Matt watched Hiccup and Toothless fly away from the cave. The ride was absolutely insane! Holding onto Hiccup for dear life, it was all Matt could do to stay on the insane dragon! Toothless had a different idea of a first flight than Matt had anticipated; doing loops, dives, rolls, spins! It was a complete stunt performance!

Shaking a little still, Matt couldn't help but smile as he watched the two disappear into the distance. After staring into nothing for a few seconds, Matt double checked his gear to make sure that he still had everything after the flight he had. Seeing everything was still in place, minus the contents in his bag being completely re-arranged, Matt shouldered his bag and began to walk into the cave; to go back to where he belonged…

"I'll miss you Hiccup! Thanks for showing me…well, who my family is." He said quietly to himself as he entered the dark cave.

* * *

"What took you so long Hiccup?" Astrid asked as Hiccup and Toothless flew into the arena.

"Sorry guys, I had to take care of some…business…" Hiccup said, obviously a little depressed.

"You ok Hiccup?" Fishlegs asked seeing that something was wrong.

"Where's Matt?" Ruffnut asked, raising a brow to add more drama to the question.

Hiccup hesitated for a second, and then decided that everyone should know. "Gone" He simply replied "Went back home!"

"What!?" Astrid said in surprise "Why did he leave so soon?"

"Well, it was kind of my dad, but it made sense why Matt had to leave." Hiccup replied, walking towards the other end of the arena where he had a small podium full of notes set up. "He really didn't belong here, and his friends and family are probably looking for him as we speak. Apparently he was lost when he found his way to our world."

"I was thinking that he was going to stay…you know, a little bit longer!" Fishlegs said thoughtfully.

"So did I" Hiccup responded "But he's gone, and all we can do is keep doing what we do! It was fun to have him around for the few days we had him, but it had to end!"

"He wasn't that cool anyways!" Snotlout jumped in "I mean he was just as skinny as Hiccup! Not strong at all like this perfect example here!"

Astrid rolled her eyes at that comment and then walked over to Stormfly to pet her. "Well, what're we going to do today Hiccup?"

Hiccup, who was looking at notes, quickly replied: "Identification quiz!" To which everyone rolled their eyes and groaned.

"Again!?" Tuffnut whined "We all know what Zippleback looks like!"

"But we haven't seen all of the dragons yet!" Hiccup pointed out "Until we do, we're going to identification problems!"

Grumpily, everyone took a seat and began act bored already. Astrid was the better sport at it.

"All right Hiccup, let's get this over with!" she said, getting herself in a relaxed position.

"All right guys, we'll start with a warm up. What's this dragon?" Hiccup said, holding up a sketch of a two headed dragon.

"That's a Zippleback...I think." A voice called out above them

Quickly turning to where the voice came from, the group was shocked to see Matt leaning against the railing of the arena, smiling at them with his goggles over his eyes. "Surprised?"

"What are you doing here!?" Hiccup exclaimed as he ran to the side of the arena, still looking at Matt "I dropped you off at the cave!"

"I know, and if you waited ten minutes, you would have seen me walk out! It dead ends 15 feet into it with rocks and such. It never led me to where I came in." Matt said smiling.

"So…you're here to stay?" Astrid asked, standing next to Hiccup.

Matt began walking to the ramp entrance. "I guess so! I don't feel as bad about it now because I honestly don't know how to get home! I already talked to Stoick about it and we both feel that there might be a reason why I'm here if I can't get back."

The group met Matt at the entrance, all excited about the news, but not as excited as Hiccup was. "That's great! Er, I mean, well…how do you feel that you're stuck here? What about your friends and family?"

Matt chuckled a little at Hiccup's excitement. "I'm fine with it now; when I get back, I'll just tell them that I did everything I could to be found! Don't need to go into detail." Then frowning a little, he said: "If I ever get back that is."

"Well until then, come with us at the academy! I mean, think how cool it would be if you trained your own dragon!" Hiccup exclaimed. This was received with a few whoops and smiles from the group standing behind him, supporting Hiccup in that comment.

"We could use more trainers! That's for sure." Astrid added in, smiling.

Matt smiled and then leaned his snowboard and backpack against the wall. "Well, I guess there isn't much else I can do! Lead on!"

Hiccup smiled as he beckoned Matt to come to the podium that was set up, to which Matt sat himself next to Astrid and Fishlegs. "Alright, so this guys is why we do identification problems. We have a new recruit and he has no knowledge of dragons whatsoever. I want him to identify each dragon, and when it's your dragon, you can share something about it so that he can learn. Got it?"

"Yeah! Let's go!" Ruffnut whined

"I'm still bored." Snotlout added in.

"Alright! What's this dragon?" Hiccup asked, holding up another sketch of a dragon.

To Matt, it looked like a giant boulder…with bee wings. It had a huge mouth on one end and a round butt, or tail at the back. Looking around, he pointed to the similar looking dragon laying on the ground asleep. "That one, I don't know its name…" Matt replied, a little shy at his lack of knowledge.

"That's a Gronckle!" Fishlegs exclaimed excitedly walking to his dragon "This is Meatlug, she's amazing!"

Matt looked at the sleeping Gronckle named affectionately Meatlug, and then shrugged._ "To each his own I guess"_ He thought to himself as he saw Meatlug lick Fishlegs face. Turning to Hiccup, he asked "Hey Hiccup, do you have that book? The one about the dragons? I just don't have a huge knowledge of dragons."

"Well, maybe it might be better to go to the basics with you huh…" Hiccup said thoughtfully. Pulling out the dragon book from the podium like stand, he started to make way towards Matt. "Ok, here's everything that we know about dragons. It's still a work in process though, because we haven't seen or met a few other dragons yet."

"Sounds good!" Matt said looking at the book. "I've never been to good with studying before…"

"Well, we'll talk about a few dragons that you haven't seen. So you know about the Zippleback, Gronckle, Nightmare, Nadder, and the Night Fury. How about the Thunderdrum?" Hiccup asked.

"Thunderwhat?" Matt asked confused "Probably not then."

"I don't think you've seen Thornado, my dad's dragon have you?" Hiccup replied.

"He has a dragon?" Matt exclaimed "I had no idea!"

"Well, I'll have to show you him" Hiccup said turning the page "Here, this is called the Skauldron, it's a sea dragon, just like the Thunderdrum. Instead of breathing fire, it shoots a stream of scalding hot water."

"Really. Hmm, interesting" Matt responded.

And so they went through the entire book, all the types of dragons as well as their classes. Studying for the entire day, it ended up that Astrid, Hiccup and Matt were the only ones left at the arena, still looking through the book. The only few dragons that perked Matt's interest and they were the Deadly Nadder, the Night Fury, and the Skrill. "They look like they're fast, which I've already seen Toothless and Astrid's dragon fly fast." Matt said, giving his reasons to Hiccup and Astrid.

Smiling, Astrid said "Her names Stormfly and she is just as fast as Toothless; but how about you personally check out each dragon that we have tomorrow? You can ride each one of ours and feel them out! You can try to find a Skrill, but we've never seen one before really. They're supposed to fly in lightning storms."

Nodding, Matt looked at Stormfly who was sleeping next to the gate out of the arena. "Well…I guess that sounds good, I'm still a little scared of them, but I guess that will have to be conquered huh?"

"Yep, it's hard at first, but you'll get used to it real quick." Hiccup said laughing and looking at the setting sun. "Come on, let's get something to eat!"

"Sounds good to me!" Matt said, standing up with the two others. Home was completely out of his mind now; after checking the cave and finding it blocked off, Matt decided that he was going to have to live in the past. Smiling, Matt picked up his gear and began to walk with Hiccup and Astrid.


	6. Chapter Five - Earning Wings

**Thanks for the support! Here's Chapter 5! Any questions or comments please post in the review section, I'll PM you if you want me to as well! As usual, **

**Enjoy!**

Chapter Five – Earning Wings

"Matt! Wake up!" A voice called.

Slowly, Matt tried to open his eyes to which he promptly failed. _"Who's calling me? I'M SLEEPING!"_

"Come on Matt! We're going to be late!" The voice yelled again.

_"Hiccup?" _Matt thought, his eyes still shut tight but his body starting to stir _"Oh come on! Let me sleep!"_ He felt his covers being grabbed and pulled off of him, letting cold air rush onto his body. "What the- Oh come on!" He yelled sitting straight up due to the shock of the coldness. It was a rude way to wake up, the only thing worse than this was when him mom would just walk into his room and flip on the lights!

"Thanks Toothless!" Hiccup said laughing.

Matt looked at Toothless who was sitting with his blanket in his mouth, with a goofy grin on his face.

"Traitor!" Matt said angrily jumping up to put on his clothes.

"How long do you sleep in anyways?" Hiccup asked curiously.

"Well, it's 8:30 now…" Matt said glancing at his watch "eh, give me another 3 hours." To which he began to slowly putting on his under armor shirt.

"11 o'clock!" Hiccup said in surprise "That's a long time!"

"I like my sleep." Matt said yawning putting on his coat "It's a pretty big event in my life…"

Shaking his head Hiccup then said: "Well, not as big as this event, you're going flying today!"

Matt's head snapped up at this, saying: "With you right?"

Laughing, Hiccup shook his head "You're going to try all of our dragons! Just to help see which one you like."

Matt seemed to be in daze for a little bit, and then proceeded to tie his boots. _"Well…I guess it's now or never…"_ Matt thought _"I'm going to die…"_

* * *

"I have a question" Matt asked. Everyone was at the arena, talking and laughing. Matt, Hiccup and Toothless walked to the arena, since Matt wanted to spend as much time possible on the ground.

"What's up?" Astrid asked, tilting her head a little as she did so.

"Why do you guys start so early? I mean you have all day to train your dragons! Why not do it in the middle of the day?" Matt was trying to have them start later so he could sleep longer. The reply he got hinted that it wasn't going to happen as Astrid punched him in the shoulder. "Aggh! What was that for!?"

"Quit whining" Astrid said, shaking her head.

"Ok guys! Matt's going to check out all our dragons! So get them ready for him to be able to sit on them!" Hiccup announced to the group, then turning to Matt who was still rubbing his shoulder said: "Matt, here's the Dragon Book, it should help you learn how to approach the dragons."

"I already read the thing; can't you guys just tell me what to do?" Matt said with a little anger in his voice. He never saw Astrid who was behind him with Stormfly who punched the same shoulder again "GGRRRHHHH again!?" he yelled turning around to face her.

"You're whining again." She said with a satisfied grin on her face "Had to stop it from getting worse."

"…Thanks?" Matt said, his shoulder still hurting.

"Sweet! First up are Snotlout and Hookfang! Matt, what kind of dragon is Hookfang?" Hiccup said spinning Matt around to face where Snotlout and Hookfang were standing.

"Well, that's a Monstrous Nightmare…Capable of lighting itself on fire?" Matt answered, unsure that the answer he gave was correct.

"Alright! So normally, only the toughest and strongest can even get near these bad boys!" Snotlout said putting his fists on his hips and sticking out his chest "Luckily I've tamed Hookfang enough to listen to me!"

"Uh-huh…After Hiccup calmed him down for you." Astrid retorted back.

"Hurry up Matt!" Snotlout yelled in order to try and cover up what Astrid said.

Rolling his eyes, Matt slowly walked up to the giant red dragon. Hookfang eyed Matt warily, to which Matt thought it was thinking of how good of a snack he would be for it. Slowly reaching his hand forward as he had seen Hiccup do with other dragons, Matt reached forward to the touch the nose of the dragon. It never moved to him, but Matt was able to rest his hand on it for a second.

"Ok, slowly move to the right side! Mount him from there!" Hiccup said.

Slowly walking next to the horn, Matt grasped it and began to lift his leg over Hookfang's neck. About to sit down on, Matt could feel some heat behind him. Panicky, Matt instinctively leapt off of Hookfang just in time as the Nightmare ignited into flames. Landing hard on the snow covered ground; Matt crawled on all fours as fast as he could away from the burning dragon which Snotlout was trying to calm down.

"Matt are you ok!?" Hiccup yelled running up to Matt who was still on the ground.

"I'm fine, I mean I almost got barbequed alive, but yeah I'm fine!" Matt said angrily. Picking himself up, he looked at the burning dragon who was giving Snotlout a hard time. "Probably not going to train that dragon, I mean he was totally leading me on that he was going to let me sit on him!"

"I'm glad that you moved just in time!" Hiccup said; double checking Matt in case there was a small flame that was lingering on Matt "I promise not all dragons are like that! Toothless was good with you!"

"Yeah, just almost threw me off midflight…" Matt grumbled "I don't know if I want to even do this anymore…"

"Try Meatlug!" Fishlegs jumped in "I promise that she'll be nice and easy for you!"

Hiccup looked at Matt with the facial expression, 'it won't hurt to try!' To which Matt thought: _"It may hurt to try" _Looking at Fishlegs, then Meatlug, Matt sighed "Fine…I'll try it one more time…"

Fishlegs whispered something to Meatlug and then motioned Matt to come. Walking slowly, Matt lifted his hand up to rest it on the back of the dragon. Making sure that Meat lug wasn't going to turn around to snap off his hand, Matt grabbed one end of the saddle and started hoist himself up slowly. Struggling for a few seconds to get in the saddle, Matt finally sat down squarely in it.

"Ok girl! Nice and easy!" Fishlegs said excitedly.

The flutter of the wings caused a small drone in the air and Matt felt himself lifted in the air. At first it was exhilarating, to be riding a dragon by himself! But that quickly died after the third cycle in the air. Flying in a 10 foot circle, Meatlug moved slow around…and around…and around. _"It like the Merry-Go-Round for babies!"_ Matt thought as he looked at Hiccup. "Ok, I'm done! I'm ready to get off!"

"Ok girl! Come back down!" Fishlegs said smiling.

Slowly floating down, Meatlug landed so softly that Matt didn't notice that he had landed. Jumping down, Matt turned to Meatlug and gave her a few pats. "Thanks girl! That was…memorable"

"You did great girl!" Fishlegs yelled as he hugged Meatlug.

"Not so bad huh!" Hiccup said smiling "Told you not all dragons are like Hookfang!"

"Yeah…I guess…" Matt said, and then looking at Hiccup said "I guess I can do another one!"

"Awesome! My dragons turn!" Ruffnut yelled excitedly.

"No my dragons turn!" Tuffnut said, squaring himself up to his sister.

"Guys!" Hiccup shouted "Do I have to remind you guys again!?"

"Oh…right!" Tuffnut said "Just walk up to it! They're pretty fun!"

Matt looked at the Zippleback, and then at Hiccup and said "Are you sure all dragons aren't like Hookfang?"

Laughing Hiccup gestured to keep on going. Facing the two headed dragon again, Matt slowly walked to the right side. The two heads both watch Matt as he neared them, smiling almost mischievously. Being extremely wary, Matt rested his hand on the back of the dragon. Again waiting to see if it would do anything, Matt slowly crawled onto the dragon sitting himself between the two heads.

"Alright…nice and easy! Let's start out a little slow…" Matt said, urging the dragon to move forward. Without warning, one head reached backwards and grabbed him by the coat. "AAUUGGHHHH!" screamed Matt as he was beginning to be lifted up higher!

"Tuff! Ruff! Stop your dragon!" Hiccup yelled running towards the Zippleback.

"Why! This is awesome!" Ruffnut said laughing, followed by his sister saying: "Yeah it is! Do you think it'll burn him?"

"Stormfly get Matt!" Astrid shouted also running to the Zippleback. Instantly, Stormfly ran to the dragon tormenting Matt as he dangled helplessly. The Deadly Nadder rammed itself into the Zippleback's neck that was holding Matt. Shocked from the hit, the dragon dropped Matt to which he fell promptly on Stormfly who was waiting for him to fall. Running away from the Zippleback, Stormfly turned her head to look at her passenger.

"Good girl!" Astrid said running to catch up to her dragon "Are you ok Matt?"

Hiccup was with Astrid as well as Fishlegs "Matt I'm so sorry! That's never happened before!"

Still shaken up, Matt looked at them and said: "I'm done. I'm done with dragons for good now!" Without waiting for a response, he began to dismount Stormfly, who looked a little hurt; understanding what Matt meant.

Hiccup wanted to stop Matt, but couldn't say anything. It was a complete disaster! Almost every single dragon ride was a bad experience for him. Astrid however had to say something.

"Not yet you're not!" She said pushing Matt back onto the saddle "Your riding Stormfly right now!"

"Uh…Astrid, I'm not sure if you noticed, but I've almost been burned alive, eaten by a two headed dragon, and almost fell to my death! When I say I'm done, I'm done!" Matt replied angrily.

"You can be done, AFTER you ride Stormfly!" Astrid said, then pointing to her dragon said: "You owe her that much since she saved you!"

Matt looked at the pretty blue dragon and then back at Astrid, who eyes were almost daring Matt to say no. "Fine. One more ride, but you're going to come with me!" Matt replied "I'm not going to do this alone yet."

Astrid thought of this and then shrugged "Fine. But you're still going to fly her alone before you quit!" In one bound, Astrid landed in front of Matt in the saddle and said "Hiccup come with us, I only want you to come."

Hiccup, who was relieved that Matt was giving it a second chance, quickly responded: "Of course! I'll be right behind you!" and then ran to jump on Toothless.

"I should go to…to make sure it all goes well." Snotlout said, running to Hookfang.

Astrid glared at Snotlout, daring him to get on his dragon. Seeing her, Snotlout then said "Actually…I think I'll stay here…"

"That's a good idea." Astrid said and then looked at Matt "Ready?"

"Let's get it over with..." Matt said, wrapping his arms around Astrid to hold himself in place.

With that, Stormfly and Toothless took off through the gate. Matt flew on Toothless before, but his eyes were mostly closed the entire flight and he was with Hiccup, not by himself. Being with a second person helped him relax a bit. Soaring just above the clouds, it actually felt good to just fly…not have to worry about hanging on to prevent plummeting to your death.

"See…it's not so bad when you actually have a dragon that you trained yourself." Astrid said, turning to face Matt "Trust me; this is better on your own!"

"I believe it…" Matt replied, visibly relaxing himself "It's nice to just…fly!"

"It's definitely relaxing" Astrid said, returning her focus on what was ahead of her. The wind in Matt's eyes started to make them tear up, to which he pulled his goggles over. This was fun! It reminded him of when he first snowboarded. A thrill, a challenge, an event in his life forever; Flying on a dragon was definitely going to be staple in his life.

"Not so bad is it?" Hiccup called out from behind them. Toothless was casually swerving left and right behind Stormfly, obviously trying to entertain himself.

"No…it's not…" Matt replied as he continued to look around. _"I'm going to train a dragon…"_ He thought "_I need to now…"_ Looking at Stormfly, he began to rub her side. "She's a beautiful dragon Astrid. She really is."

Grinning, Astrid replied "I know…she's the best thing to happen to me!"

They were above the ocean now, flying along the cliffy shore. Matt could tell that they were headed right to a larger rock pillar sticking out of the water. Suddenly, he felt the dragon pull up slightly, stalling out and gently landing on the pillar.

"All right, your turn!" Astrid said jumping off the saddle.

"What!?" Matt said in shock "Already?"

"She's used to you, and she probably is the best to practice on!" Astrid said rubbing Stormfly's head "Plus, I don't normally let people ride her, so you better take the offer!"

Caught in the trap, and not really seeing any other way to get off the pillar, Matt weakly said: "Thanks…" shimmying up the saddle to sit more of in the middle of it, Matt grabbed the handles and held on for dear life. _"If I'm going to train a dragon…well…I'm going to have to learn how to fly one then!"_ Making sure his goggles were in secure, he said: "Ok, I'm ready"

"Go Stormfly!" Astrid said, running to jump onto Toothless right behind Hiccup.

With that, Stormfly launched into the air! Matt was leaned as close as possible to the saddle, still holding on for dear life! Flying at a flat line, Matt looked around. He was alone…on a dragon! He was flying a dragon by himself! "WHOOO!" He yelled, still not letting go of the handles. Leaning his body to the right a little bit, he felt Stormfly respond by gently banking to the right! "This is amazing!" He yelled out loud, not directed to anyone.

"Told you it's better by yourself!" Astrid yelled back.

Turning around Matt saw that Toothless, with his riders, was right behind him. "I totally want to train a dragon now! I need to!"

Hiccup and Astrid laughed and then Toothless started to climb higher into the sky. "Alright girl, lets follow them!" Matt shouted as he pulled up on the saddle. Stormfly instantly responded with a roar and began to climb with Toothless. It was amazing! The feeling of wind whipping by! Matt began to relax a little, starting to forget how high he was. After a few seconds of hearing the air rush by his head, Matt suddenly felt weightless. Looking down, he saw that he was starting to float off the saddle! "Oh….CRAP!" he screamed. He still gripped the handles, but the thought of him falling off caused him to panic and let go for an instant. The next two seconds were extremely eventful for Matt, for now he was now skydiving without a parachute! It was a strange feeling; Matt was almost too scared to react to anything! Starting to spin and flip in the air, Matt's senses began to form again, causing him to flail.

"Matt! Hold on!" Hiccup yelled as he urged Toothless into a dive. "Stormfly! Go get him!" Astrid ordered her dragon who instantly responded by diving for her falling rider.

Matt was getting disoriented from the spinning, this was not good! "GAAGGHHH! HELP ME!" he screamed frantically, trying to stabilize himself. After focusing, Matt twisted his body around to where he was falling on his back; his years of snowboarding helped him do that. The wind whipping past him was deafening, but he could see Stormfly coming closer to him. "Come on! A little closer!" Matt yelled extending his hand as if to pull Stormfly closer to him. Edging closer, Stormfly began to fall next to Matt to which he promptly grabbed one of the big spikes on Stormfly's head. Whipping himself around, Matt saw how close he was to the sea, to which he instinctively planted two feet on the saddle and pulled up on Stormfly's head. Beginning to pull up, Matt could feel the G-Forces pulling on him as the dragon barely pulled out of the dive; skimming the water! Because of the forces, Matt was able to stay on while riding the dragon like a snowboard! Leaning slightly to the left, Matt felt the dragon 'carve' to the left towards the island.

Hiccup and Astrid were right behind him, amazed at the manner that Matt was riding Stormfly! Though he was still holding onto the spikey head, he was standing on the dragon at high speeds! "Yeah Matt!" Hiccup shouted, raising his fist to show that he was excited! Matt in turn let out a whoop of joy! For the reasons of still being alive and now dicovering 'dragon boarding'!

Flying above a small valley, Matt guided Stormfly down. Only 10 feet above the ground, the stalling and flapping of Stormfly caused Matt to lose his balance and fall the rest of the way.

Landing in the snow, Matt looked up to see Hiccup and Astrid running to him. "Are you alright Matt?" Hiccup asked "You've had the worst luck when it comes to dragons!"

Laughing, Matt replied "I'm fine! In fact I'm great!" That comment shocked Hiccup and Astrid, To which Matt expounded "I'm alive for one, and now I think I know what dragon I want to train!" Looking at Stormfly who was next to Astrid, he continued "A Deadly Nadder! It's perfect!"

Hiccup and Astrid both smiled and sighed out of relief; relief that Matt wasn't bitter against dragons, and now he knew what dragon he wanted to train.

"Also," Matt added "I think I have an idea for a saddle!" Looking at his boots and then looking up grinning, Matt asked: "Think you can help me strap my snowboard bindings to a saddle?"


	7. Chapter Six - Board vs Sword

**Ok, I just updated every single chapter that I posted because I realized that they didn't have the spaces to separate events in the story…sorry for the confusion! This was a fun chapter to write! I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did! As usual,**

**Enjoy!**

Chapter Six – Board vs. Sword

Beads of sweat were dripping off of Matt's face. He had taken off his big snowboard coat in order to help him cool down and focus on his current task, but that had helped very little. In the center of the arena he was in, was an orange Deadly Nadder crouched in a defensive position. Moving slowly around it, Matt was trying to approach its tail to rub down the spikes. Walking slowly to the right, Matt began to move closer to it. The Nadder's head cocked to the side in order to keep Matt out of its blind spot.

"Easy…Easy there…" Matt whispered as he slowly walked closer to it "I'm a friend! No need to be tense…" A trickle of sweat dripped off his nose. The stress of the situation was intense, and not even the cool, damp air was helping cool him down.

Standing now only five feet away from the tail, Matt paused to make sure the Nadder was seeing what he was doing. The last thing he wanted to do was scare it and have all those poisoned spikes thrust into his body!

"Good! Now ease up to the base of the tail real slow…" Astrid called out from the side of the arena. Astrid had been giving tips to Matt the rest of yesterday after his decision to train a Nadder and clear into noon today about how to train a Nadder, and now was coaching him as he did it.

Matt responded by slowly raising his right hand and extending it towards the Nadder. Seeing that it wasn't going to do anything, Matt took one step towards the base of the tail and then froze, letting the Nadder know what he wanted to do. Positive that it was ok to move closer, Matt slowly took another step, only to be instantly hit in the back by an object.

Crumpled on the ground, Matt closed his eyes ready for to be attacked by the Nadder who was roaring. After a few seconds of nothing, Matt opened his eyes to see a shield lying next to him and the orange Nadder on the other side of the arena. "Wha-What happened?" he asked out loud as he rubbed his back. Rolling on his side to get up, Matt looked up to see Astrid running to him. "Did you hit me or something?" he asked.

"The Nadder was going to get you; the Spikes were starting to flare up." Astrid said helping Matt up "Weren't you watching the tail like I told you?"

"Er, well, to be honest no…I was making eye contact with it, I guess to let it know what I was doing…" Matt said sheepishly, still rubbing his back "Did you hit me with the shield?"

"Astrid shrugged and replied "It was the only way I could get you out of the line of fire." Then getting a sterner look continued: "You should ALWAYS watch the tail Matt! It may have known what you were trying to do, but it obviously didn't like that. If you were watching for signs of irritation, you could have backed off and earned its trust more that way than anything else!"

Matt sighed and looked up at the sky. This was going to be harder than he thought. _"I probably lost a year of my life due to the stress of walking that close to it!"_ he thought to himself. Facing Astrid again, Matt said: "I need a break Astrid…I need to clear my mind because well, you know, I almost died…again!"

"I think that maybe a good idea, let the Nadder cool down a little bit as well…" Astrid replied looking at the Deadly Nadder eyeing them carefully.

"I think I'm going to go board down the mountain again…that'll help a ton…" Matt continued as he started to walk out of the arena.

"I can give you a lift; plus Hiccup and I can go down with you!" Astrid said walking behind him.

Turning around, Matt raised his eyebrow and asked: "Flying down with me you mean?"

"Nope! We can ride are dragons on the snow, kind of a fun pastime we do!"

"Heh, sounds like plan to me!" Matt said, zipping up his coat again and grabbing his board that was leaned against the wall. "Lead the way!

* * *

"Think you'll be able to keep up?" Matt asked smiling as he finished strapping his board on. All three of them were on top at the cave where Matt had come out of; which still had a dead end. The sky was sunny, but the still cold. The snow never froze, making it fresh powder; perfect to board down.

"Just try to stay with us!" Hiccup said laughing as he mounted Toothless.

Looking at Astrid, Matt smiled and shrugged. "I was more worried about you!" he teased.

"Ooohhhhh, you just earned a fist from me!" Astrid yelled back. But it fell flat in Matt's ears as he popped his board up and began the ride down.

It was a bit of time since he last boarded, minus Stormfly when he was falling out of the sky. The last time he went was coming back from the cave when he tried to go home. The wind rushing by and the excitement of turning and carving through untouched snow was exhilarating. Hiccup wasn't kidding though. The dragons may be able to fly, but they could slide just as fast! With Hiccup and Astrid on both sides of him, Matt crouched a little and carved less in order to gain more speed. Slightly pulling away from them, Matt stretched out his hand as he scraped the snow as he flew down the mountain, causing a small 'tail' of snow to spew into the air.

Suddenly, a small dip appeared and Matt quickly prepared for it by using his legs as shocks. Seeing a small incline, Matt hit it without checking his speed. Launching into the air, Matt quickly grabbed the back side of the board and twisted his body. _"360 Method!"_ He thought happily to himself. Landing smoothly, Matt turned to see Hiccup and Astrid with their dragons finish landing a much smaller jump. Laughing, Matt returned his focus to what was ahead of him because trees were starting to become much denser. Weaving in and out, Matt saw a dead tree angled at a slight incline. Lining himself up with the log, Matt ollied his entire board onto the downed tree. Grinding on it and almost at the end, Matt suddenly caught edge on a small branch to which he promptly fell forward. Rolling with the inertia, Matt popped himself back up in order to keep some of the speed he had. "Keep going! I'll catch up!" He yelled as the two dragons zoomed past him.

Carving between the trees, Matt slipped past the trees as if he had been doing that trail all his life. _"This is so much better than a ski resort!"_ Matt thought _"Or a competition even!"_ Following the trail that Astrid and Hiccup were leaving behind, Matt quickly found them at an end of a cliff, looking into the infinite sea.

"Sorry about that guys…just having a little fun!" Matt said as he stopped in between the two.

Laughing, Hiccup asked: "Are you all right? It looked like you fell pretty hard."

Smiling, Matt replied looking at Astrid: "Eh…well it didn't help my back at all" then returning his attention to Hiccup said "I'm fine, you can't get better without crashing…that's how the system works."

Thinking about what Matt said, Hiccup nodded and again looked at the sea. The sun was still high, causing the light to shimmer and reflect off. If it was a picture, you would've thought it to be warm. _"What a Kodak moment…"_ Matt thought. "Hey guys, I have a question for you, is that ok?"

"Only if you're not going to whine about something!" Astrid smirked, laughing to herself.

Hiccup laughed a little to and the said: "Go ahead."

Taking a deep breath, Matt looked back at the ocean and asked "Do you think I'll ever go home?"

The question took both Hiccup and Astrid by surprise! "Why do you ask?" Astrid said being the first to recover.

"Well…It's because I don't want to go back! I will if the opportunity permits, but I really love it here. For once I feel like I'm… happy! It's weird I know, but even with all my sponsorship's and rewards for winning competitions, I never really felt…well satisfied. For the first time I feel that here! Does that even make sense?" Matt said turning to the two.

Both of them took their deep breath and thought about what Matt asked. Hiccup was the first to speak this time. "Actually I think I do." Walking towards Matt he continued "Did you know it was my dream to kill a dragon?"

"No I didn't! And to be honest, I never would have guessed that!" Matt said in surprise.

Laughing a little, Hiccup went on: "Yeah at least that was what I THOUGHT I dreamed of," Turning to Toothless, Hiccup smiled more broadly "but then someone changed my mind. You know, I learned that it's not always our dream to do what we may be good at, or born to do in my case; but to make what we do, better for others! Because of Toothless, my life is better, and because of me Toothless' life's better. As far as you starting to feel satisfied, well my guess is that you're doing something to better someone's life! Or your own…"

"And I for one hope you don't have to leave!" Astrid jumped in. "I don't know if you're stuck here forever or if you'll ever go home, but I think I speak for most the people of Berk when I say I'm glad you showed up!"

"I second that!" Hiccup said, still smiling.

"Thanks guys...I'm glad that you feel that way about me!" Smiling at that answer he received, Matt continued to look out at the sea; until something caught his eye. "Hey Hiccup? What's that?" He pointed to a small object on top of the water. "I can't tell what it is."

Hiccup squinted at the object in the distance and then pulled out a telescope. Looking intently for a few seconds he suddenly gasped. "It's an outcast's ship! Quick! We need to tell my dad!"

Everything moved so fast as Matt unstrapped himself from the board and then attached it to his bag. Jumping on Stormfly behind Astrid, Matt felt himself in the air before even setting himself in. "So…these are the guys that want your book?" He yelled out to Hiccup.

"Yeah, they're turning out to be a real pain, but they're pretty dangerous!" Hiccup yelled back.

"Last time they captured a girl's parents to make her get to book for them." Astrid added "She succeeded too, and they had it for a while!"

"Did they learn anything? If they had it for a bit, then shouldn't they be flying dragons too?" Matt asked intently.

"No, though they had it, they couldn't really apply it!" Astrid responded quickly "I have a feeling that they're here for more than just the book…"

"Hiccup you mean?" Matt whispered.

"Or anyone of us trainers." Astrid simply confirmed "But I feel that Alvin would prefer Hiccup over any of us…"

* * *

After a few long minutes flying, the small group landed in front of the Great Hall with their dragons. "Astrid, will you go get the guys all ready? We may need to scout the island…" Hiccup said turning to Astrid.

"Yeah, of course!" Astrid replied, jumping back onto Stormfly. Seconds later she was flying straight to the arena.

"Come on Matt, let's get going…" Hiccup said, pushing on one of the big doors that lead into the great hall.

Stoick was at a table, talking to a group of Vikings when Hiccup and Matt walked in. Not being subtle about something being wrong, Hiccup shouted out loud: "Dad! We've spotted Outcasts! They were heading to the island from the West!"

Stoick's head instantly snapped up and then began to issue orders: "Sven! Go gather the women and children here! Gobber! Take a few men and prepare the armory! Every able-bodied person on the island will be armed!"

After receiving the 'Ayes' the men left the great hall in a hurry. Watching them leave, Stoick turned to his son and asked: "How many ships did you see? Were they close?"

"Only one ship, and they still had a distance to cover before they came here, but that was a few minutes ago!" Hiccup replied.

"Go get the dragon book! He can't be given the chance to get it at all!" Stoick ordered.

Hiccup was about to leave until Matt stopped him, saying: "Wait! Hold on for second…Do you think that's a good idea?"

"Of course it's a good idea! Keeping the book away from Alvin is the most important thing we can do!" Stoick yelled angrily.

"That I'm not questioning, but should Hiccup have the book? I mean it sounds like Alvin needs someone to help apply the book to the actual training of a dragon; information locked away inside the book that can only be unlocked by someone with experience! Where I come from to keep something locked, we kept the lock and key separate from each other. Hear what I'm saying?" Matt stated, hoping at least Hiccup saw his logic. Matt was never book smart, but he could still think!

"Ah…I see where you're going at" Stoick said stroking his beard "Who do you think should have it then?"

"All three of us!" Matt quickly replied "All three of us should have a 'fake' dragon book, hiding the real one somewhere in here in the Great Hall!"

"Dad, I actually think that may be the best idea yet!" Hiccup said standing next to Matt "I say we do it!"

"Alright then, Hiccup go get the book and a few others! We'll draw the dragon symbol on each one!" Stoick said approvingly.

"We'll be right back then!" Hiccup said running out of the door with Matt and Toothless trailing him.

After a few minutes, Hiccup and Matt walked through the great hall doors. Matt was carrying two books while Hiccup held the dragon book. "Here you go dad!" he said as he handed it to Stoick "We could only find two other books to use, but they'll do."

"Good, now get working on those books." Stoick replied as he took the book "I'll go find a spot for this to hide in. After your done with that, go ahead and see if you can't find where Alvin anchored his ship."

"Sounds good; come on Matt, help me out with them." Hiccup said tuning to Matt.

"Lead the way!" Matt said smiling slightly.

* * *

"I think we did a pretty good job with them!" Matt said observing his book. The dragon symbol on the front was almost exactly the same as the original.

"I think it'll pass, at least until it's opened!" Hiccup said looking through the pages "But all we need is the looks."

Matt swung his backpack around and began to stuff the book in. "I guess we better get going…what does your dad want us to do now?"

"He wants the dragon trainers to search the island. We need to find where they may have landed or anchored." Hiccup replied as he began to walk to the doors of the Great Hall.

Matt quickly followed him, saying: "Let me help, I can board down the south side of the island and check out that area; I may be able to see tracks or something. You can pick me up after you finish your route!"

Thinking about it, Hiccup nodded his head and then asked "And what if you see them? Or if they see you?"

Matt shrugged and said "I'll try to be sneaky, but if they do see me it's not like they can out run me while I'm on my board! I can continue to run along the shore of the island until I see you come for me."

Hiccup was thinking more deeply about it when Astrid, along with the group showed up with their dragons. "Hey Hiccup, what's the plan now?"

Turning to the group, Hiccup sighed and said: "Astrid, you're coming with me and Matt to scout the west side of the island to the south. The rest of you will scout the east side of the island and also head south. Matt will snowboard down the center mountain to the south where we will all meet up. Got it?"

After a few nods and yes's, minus Snotlout complaining that he wasn't going with Astrid, the group split up. Matt pulled his board off his back and held on to it with one hand while the other wrapped around Hiccup to keep himself on. Toothless wasn't doing any tricks due to the gravity of the situation.

Nearing the peak of the mountain, Toothless hovered 10 feet from the ground to which Matt jumped down and landed solidly.

"Remember, don't do anything risky if you see Outcasts, just try to sneak away and meet us at the spot." Hiccup yelled, and then he and Astrid headed west to begin their route.

Matt watched the two disappear into the sky, and then focused on his board. Pulling his goggles down and strapping himself to his board in record time, Matt popped the tip board in the air to turn it in the direction he wanted and began to slide down. Just like earlier that day, Matt was totally relaxed as he sped down the mountain, leaving a tail of snow behind him as he slid through the powdered snow. _"Ok Matt, focus…look for tracks, people, anything…"_ Honestly, Matt was hoping that he wouldn't find anything. He only volunteered because he felt like he needed to.

Carving left and right, Matt entered the trees again. Passing the small jumps and dead trees, Matt checked his speed and slowed down a bit. Scanning the forest as he rode through, Matt pulled off his goggles to remove the tint from his eyesight. _"Ok…people…I'm looking for people."_ Sliding through the woods, Matt came into a small clearing. In front of him was the rest of the forest and the sea in the background. The sky was beginning to turn orange as the sun moved closer to the edge of the sea. Looking at the sight, Matt saw something out the corner of his eye. Snapping his head quickly to what he saw, Matt lost his breath. It was three people walking into the trees, armed with spears.

Dropping to the ground, Matt prayed that he wasn't seen. Not hearing or seeing anything more, Matt slowly pushed himself up and began to slide away. Then another object came into view in the sky. It was Toothless and Hiccup, with Astrid right behind them. _"NO! don't come here Hiccup!" _Matt wanted to scream but didn't want to give his position away.

He could see Hiccup point at him and turned Toothless towards him. Out of nowhere, a flying pair of balls with rope attached came out of the trees and hit Toothless, dropping him out of the air into the forest, out of sight.

"Hiccup!" Astrid yelled as she narrowly dodged another pair of fly bolas.

"Haha! We got 'im!" A voice shouted from the trees. Matt was panicked. He had no idea what to do.

"Pull 'em both out into the clearing; give me the book!" the same voice ordered "Keep that blue dragon away from us!" A few more bolas went flying at Astrid even though she was well out of the way.

_"The book!"_ Matt thought excitedly. Coming up with a quick plan, Matt buried his board in the snow as to conceal it and then began to pull the 'dragon' book out of his bag. "_I think an exchange is suitable now!"_ Matt kept thinking to himself.

"Oi! This isn't the dragon book!" The voice rang out with anger "Where is it boy!?"

"Somewhere not here…" Hiccup's voice replied. They were close to the edge.

"Tell me where it is or I'll kill your dragon!" a big guy said as he walked out of the forest waving a sword.

"Look, Al…you know you won't win! You never win when its five dragons against a…small group of Outcasts! You'll never get off the island in one piece!" Hiccup said, trying to divert the attention away from Toothless, who was being dragged by a few men.

"I'll not ask again…where…is… the book…" Alvin dragged out, pointing his sword at Toothless.

"It's right here!" Matt called out, butterflies in his stomach as he blew his cover.

Alvin turned around to see Matt standing in the center of the clearing, holding the dragon book.

"Matt! Get out of here!" Hiccup yelled fighting against the two outcasts that held him by his arms. Astrid was now behind Matt, still in the air.

"Now who might you be?" Alvin asked. The size of Alvin was intimidating, Matt wanted to just board away and leave them his powder; but seeing Hiccup in held captive and Toothless trapped in ropes, Matt forced himself to stay put.

"That doesn't matter, what matters is that you have something I want and I have something you want." Matt said, waving the 'dragon' book. "I propose an exchange if you will: the book for Hiccup and Toothless."

"What's stopping me from just gettin' it from you?" Alvin asked with an evil grin.

"If you step closer to me, I'll have Astrid burn it." Matt said pointing to Astrid in the air "That's what's stopping you."

Alvin frowned, this was not what he wanted, but if he was to get the book, that was the only way. He was going to get it. Turning to the two that were holding Hiccup, Alvin ordered them to release him. Hiccup quickly ran to Toothless and began to cut the ropes away with his dagger. The few seconds that it took were pretty quick as Hiccup and Toothless took off in the air.

"Now…your part of the deal; give me the book…" Alvin growled his hand extended as to receive it then.

"Eh, you have to come get it from me!" Matt laughed as he popped his board up from its concealment. Laughing as he slid away from the cursing men, Matt quickly disappeared into the trees.

Carving through the trees, Matt looked in the sky to see if he could find Hiccup or Astrid. It took him a few minutes to get out of the forest, but as he did, he could see them waiting for him in the air.

"Come on Matt! Hurry up!" Astrid yelled, as she lined her dragon up to pick up Matt.

Matt who wasn't paying attention to what was ahead of him, reached up as to grab Stormfly's legs; to which he felt the ground disappear from under him. He had accidently gone down a slope that lead to the sea! Unable to stop in time due to the steepness of the drop, Matt lifted the nose of his board and headed straight for the water. Surfing slightly on the water, Matt's inertia quickly died and he slowly sank into the water. If Matt wasn't cold before, he sure was now! "GAH! H…h….help!" he yelled as he bobbed up and down in the ice cold water. Fighting to stay afloat, Matt looked up at where Hiccup and Astrid were only to see multiple arrows flying through the air towards them, keeping them away from Matt. As quickly as he could, Matt turned his head around and gasped as he saw the Outcasts ship was sailing straight for him. Trying to paddle away, but failing miserably as he still had hos board strapped to him, Matt was quickly overcome by fatigue and the ship. Pulled onto the boat, Matt was held by two giant men.

"Well, well, well," A familiar voice sounded "Looks like we have a passenger coming with us after all!" Alvin laughed as he grabbed Matt's backpack. "Let's have a look at the book then shall we?" Tearing Matt's bag open, Alvin pulled the book out and threw the torn bag in the water.

"My stuff!" Matt yelled as he struggled against those that were holding him. "Do you know how much that bag cost me!? You son of a-"

"Oi!" Alvin yelled as he glanced through the pages "What is this!?"

Matt's face darkened; whatever may happen, he wasn't going to tell where the book was…whatever may happen.

Alvin, slowly closed the book and tossed it into the water. Looking up at Hiccup and Astrid who were still watching, just out of arrows reach, he yelled "If you want 'im back, you better bring the dragon book and another trainer. If you want him to stay alive, do it in two days!" Then facing his crew, said "Set sail back home." Returning his attention to the two dragons he once again yelled: "If you try to save 'im now, I'll just kill 'im right here! Don't try anything!"

Hiccup and Astrid could only watch helplessly as the outcast ship sailed out of view, with Matt as a prisoner.


	8. Chapter Seven - A Shocking Discovery

** Ok, Chapter 7! Hope you enjoy it! Sorry about being so late updating, been super busy. I hope this chapter is long enough; it was kind of hard to enhance. As usual, R&R and…**

**Enjoy!**

Chapter 7 – A Shocking Discovery

Matt was being escorted by two men as he walked through a stone walkway with a gate at the end. As he reached the gate, one of the men started to turn a heavy duty looking wheel which raised the gate slowly. Without warning, the second escort shoved Matt with his spear. Stumbling through the gate, Matt found himself standing in a similar arena as the one in Berk. Hearing the gate slam shut behind him, Matt spun around to see the two outcasts chuckling as they walked away.

"So! What do you think of our arena?" Alvin yelled from the ledge of the arena "Pretty big isn't it?" Next to him was another outcast as well as his snowboard leaning against the arena.

Looking around, Matt honestly couldn't see anything different from it. "Well, it's pretty much the same…nothing totally new here." The only thing different was a crate full of ropes and chains at one end of the arena. Other than that, it was pretty identical to the one in Berk.

"Ah, well you'll be wishing that is was a little bigger!" Alvin said laughing "'Cause you're going to be training a dragon for me!"

Matt looked up in alarm. "What!?" he yelled "I told you I'm not a trainer! I can't even ride a dragon!"

Laughing out loud, Alvin looked down at Matt and said, "Well, I just assumed that you knew what to do! I mean you had a fake dragon book, so I just thought you had it memorized!"

"Wait! Didn't you tell them they had two days to bring it? It's only been one!" Matt yelled quickly, trying to get himself some more time.

Alvin paused for a moment, obviously thinking about what he had said. Shrugging, and then smiling again, Alvin said "Eh, well I did say that, and don't worry! You'll be alive when they come, just probably not doing so well."

Matt's heart sank. He was put in here to be killed, or severely injured beyond recovery. _"He was never going to let me go…regardless of how fast Hiccup may bring the book."_ Matt thought to himself. Looking at Alvin with fear all over his face, Matt faintly said: "So you never were going to keep me alive were you?"

Laughing, Alvin replied evilly with "I kept you alive! Now it's up to you if you want to stay 'alive'" Turning to the outcast next to him, Alvin said "Savage, is the dragon ready?"

"Since this morning! We 'forgot' to feed it this morning, so it'll be looking for something to snack on." Savage replied smiling as if he were walking to a valley of flowers.

_"Son of a…I wish I had a gun right now…"_ Matt thought to himself as anger flared up inside of him.

*THUNK*

The sound of the heavy beam sliding out of the door quickly caught Matt attention. The heavy wooden and iron banded bolt began to lift up. Matt swallowed as he backed up as far as he could against the arena wall. The doors slammed open revealing a dragon that took Matt's breath away at the sight of it.

* * *

Hiccup was scanning the vast horizon in front of him; in an hour he would be in Outcast waters. Behind him was Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, and the twins.

"So Hiccup, I know you told me the plan, and I don't mind flying straight to Outcast Island; but can you please tell the others the plan now?" Astrid said, flying right next to Hiccup on his left.

"I have to agree with Astrid," Fishlegs called out from behind "I'd kinda like to know what to do BEFORE we actually get there."

"Ok fine, here's the plan guys;" Hiccup said turning around to fact the group "Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Fishlegs are going to attack the ships that are docked at their harbor. Destroy as much things as you can! Make them focused on you three!"

"Yeah! We're going to have so much fun!" Ruffnut shouted to which Tuffnut fist bumped her in agreement."

"Uh…I don't like the idea of us playing as bait!" Fishlegs responded, holding onto Meatlug tighter "Are you sure you want us to do that?"

"Fishlegs!" Astrid yelled turning around to face him "It's probably going to be the only way we can get Matt without giving up the book!"

"Continue please…" Fishlegs said softly.

Rolling his eyes, Hiccup went on "Astrid, Snotlout and I will wait just outside of the village until you have everyone's attention. There, we'll drop off by Alvin's Great Hall and search for Matt; our dragons will defend the entrance while we go in. If the outcasts are getting too close to you guys, pull out and try to lead them away from us! That should give us enough time to find him."

"You think it'll work?" Astrid asked "I mean I'm all for it, but how do we know that Matt would be in there? For all we know he could still be on the ship that Alvin was on!"

Hiccup thought about that for a moment. "I guess I don't know that he'll be there, but it's the best guess I have!"

"How about Fishlegs and the twins do a quick flyby of the ships and see if they can't see him on one of them? Then, while they're distracting, we can fly over the village towards Alvin's hall and see if he's there. It gives us a little more to go off of!"

Hiccup nodded in agreement, and then said: "Fine let's do that. Fishlegs! Make sure to do a quick scour of the fleet. Don't be long; just quick enough to see for if he's there or not."

"Ok, how will you know if we find him?" Fishlegs asked.

"Well, we won't see any ships burning, so that'll be a pretty good hint!" Hiccup replied, returning his focus ahead of him.

_"Please be alright Matt."_ He thought to himself.

As if reading his mind, Astrid said "Don't worry Hiccup, we'll get him back!"

Smiling slightly, Hiccup replied "Thanks, I mean he did save me, and I don't want him to get hurt in a place that he's not even from…" his voice drifted off.

"Hiccup, he'll be alright!" Astrid said reassuringly "Don't worry about it and focus on finding him!"

Nodding, Hiccup looked forward, scanning for the first signs of finding the dreaded island.

* * *

Matt rolled just in time to dodge a white flame that was shot at him; recovering quickly, Matt launched himself onto his stomach, barely missing a tail swung at him. crawling incredibly fast, Matt raced to the edge of the arena. Throwing his back against the wall, Matt stared at the dragon who in turn was staring at him. From what he knew from the Dragon Book, this was a Skrill. The purple dragon had black tiger like stripes running across its body and the spine like spikes running down it's back were almost a shiny silver. It was eyeing Matt dangerously, making him wish he was with Hookfang again.

The Skrill slowly began to circle around the arena, forcing Matt to move into the center of the arena. Looking up at Alvin who seemed to be enjoying himself, Matt screamed: "Please! I'm not a trainer! I'm not even from here!"

Laughing, Alvin replied "Well, since Hiccup never taught you how to train one, I thought I'd help you out learn how to! Rule number one: Don't die!"

Matt barely saw another bolt of white fire shoot at him. Dropping onto his back, Matt could feel the heat from the flame; causing him to sweat instantly in his snowboard coat and gear. Rolling around, Matt jumped up and ran to another side of the arena. Snowboard boots were never meant for running, which was making it harder for Matt to really get any speed. Turning around, Matt saw that the Skrill wasn't even running at him. Instead, it was doing something that terrified Matt. It was charging up with electricity! "Oh Crap!" Matt yelled as he began running again. As if on cue, the Skrill ran towards Matt. Diving forward once again, Matt felt the wing of the dragon hit him. The electricity froze his muscles, and he lay collapsed on the floor.

All energy was gone. All will was gone. Matt just wanted to stop, have it finish him right now. Rolling over, Matt's beanie hat fell off. Looking up at the dragon that was standing over him; Matt quickly flinched as the Skrill roared into his face, instinctively raising his arm as if to protect him. What he didn't mean to do was hit the Skrill. Though it was only a tap, it was enough to cause a small static shock.

The Skrill was taken aback by the random, unexplained jolt. Matt felt it to! Opening his eyes, Matt looked at the Skrill who was still staring at him, just not as angry as before. Time seemed to stop as the two stared at each other. Finally, as if it was awkward for it, the Skrill slowly pushed Matt with its nose; as if to urge him to do it again. Getting the idea really quick, Matt slowly reached for his hat. Grabbing it, he began to rub his hair with it.

The dragon stared at him, not sure how to take this. After a few seconds of rubbing, Matt slowly reached up and touched the Skrill. A small shock took place, to which the Skrill quietly roared with joy. Again, Matt rubbed his head, this time a lot more fervently. Doing it a little longer, Matt reached up and touched the Skrill's chin. The shock seemed to put energy in the Skrill, because it reared its head back and roared while wagging its tail.

Breathing heavily, Matt slowly stood up whispering "You're just like a big overgrown puppy!" Not stopping the rubbing, Matt reached out again, just tapping the nose of the dragon. Almost laughing, the Skrill charged up with electricity and then tapped Matt's chest. Though it wasn't as powerful as the last time he was shocked by the Skrill, Matt's body went limp again and he dropped to his knees.

The Skrill looked at Matt as if he had done something wrong. Catching his breath again, Matt forced a smile to show that he was ok. Reaching out slowly, Matt didn't charge static. Instead he slowly went for the nose just to touch. The Skrill looked at him with a curious look, until it saw Matt's hand inches from its nose.

Growling at Matt, the Skrill made him stop. Then without warning, it pressed its forehead into the palm of Matt's hand. Losing his breath Matt looked at the wild dragon who was now pressing its head into his hand. "Hey…you're not so bad when your calmed down…" he whispered "Glad you did calm down." Matt's heart was still beating a million miles an hour, but now he didn't have to worry about being shocked, burnt, or eaten!

"I actually trained a dragon….I trained a dragon!" Matt said, getting louder as he and the Skrill separated their bond.

"Now…who said you weren't a trainer, hmm?" Alvin's voice called down.

Turning to look at him, Matt's excitement quickly vanished and anger was surging through his body. "Well, will you let us go now? I did train the dragon!" Though he was serious, Matt doubted this would help him any.

"Well I did say to train the dragon, but I did not say that you could leave if you succeeded. Also, I said you were to train the dragon for ME!" Laughing, Alvin turned to the Outcasts behind him "Secure the dragon. Throw the boy in a cell."

The Skrill instantly responded by shooting white fire at Alvin. Being knocked down by one of the Outcasts he was talking to, Alvin stood up with anger in his eyes.

"I should tell you this…" Matt yelled, getting bold, which was new to him. "I'm still not a trainer, but I do know that the bond that you make when training a dragon is inseparable between the dragon and the trainer. You'll have more luck trying to tame a Zippleback in the wild than a trained dragon who's loyal to its trainer. He's mine!" Breathing heavily, Matt finished with "And we'll go down together if we can't leave!" The Skrill, seeming to know what was going on, roared at Alvin as if to solidify what Matt said.

Staring at the two with a bright red face from anger; Alvin yelled back "FINE! Rot in there for all I care! You and your dragon!"

With that, Alvin picked up Matt's snowboard and smashed it against the railing of the arena, breaking it in two halves. Throwing the piece he was holding into the arena, Alvin stormed off.

Matt slowly walked over to the remains of his board. Picking up one of the halves, Matt looked up at where Alvin stood before leaving. Wanting to say something, Matt just breathed heavily and closed his eyes. Bumped in the back, Matt turned around and saw the Skrill staring at him, with fire burning in its eyes. "We'll get even with him buddy…" Matt whispered "I promise."

Sitting against the arena's wall, Matt kept on staring at the broken board. The Skrill pushed Matt away from the wall and then lay behind him, allowing Matt to rest against it. Positioned in a semi-circle, the Skrill looked like it was protecting Matt.

Rubbing the side of the Skrill, Matt never took his eyes off the board. Then, grinning slowly, Matt began to take the bindings off the pieces of the board. Looking at the Skrill, Matt whispered "Want to try something boy?"


	9. Chapter Eight - Ready to Rumble

**Chapter 8! Hope you enjoy this chapter! A little more happens in this one!**

**Enjoy!**

Chapter 8 – Ready to Rumble

Hiccup, Astrid and Snotlout were laying down, looking over the edge of a cliff. They could see the Outcast village ahead of them, with the Great Hall carved into the mountain. Hiccup was scanning the village with his telescope

Sighing, Hiccup then said "Well, didn't think we'd have to scour inside a mountain for him." Shaking his head, he continued "Hopefully the others find him on a boat…"

"Or he could be somewhere in the village!" Astrid replied, taking the telescope from Hiccup so she could begin her own search. "You didn't see anything out of the ordinary did you?"

"I saw two Vikings ramming their heads against each other, but we see that every day with Snotlout and a wall," Hiccup responded, ignoring Snotlout's angry look "but as far as seeing Alvin or Matt, no, nothing new."

"When are we going to get going? Where are those guys…" Snotlout whined, gripping the edge of the cliff to try and kill the anxiety in him "I'm so bored!"

"As soon as they do a fly over and attack the ships, unless you want to fly into a village full of Outcasts that aren't distracted!" Astrid said rolling her eyes and then returning her focus to the telescope.

"Aww they'll just run away at the sight of manly man riding a Nightmare!" Snotlout smiled as if content with the thought of just going into the village.

Groaning, Astrid focused more intently in the telescope. Suddenly, a white flame shot out from the arena in the middle of the village. The three quickly turned their focus to where the flame appeared.

"What do you see Astrid?" Hiccup asked anxiously "Can you see the dragon that did it?"

"Hold on Hiccup, I don't exactly have a great view from here." Astrid breathed impatiently. Peering through the telescope, Astrid focused on where the entrance would be. Being in the arena before, she knew where it was even though she couldn't really see it from where she was. "Hold on…" she said "I think I see Alvin…he's walking away from the arena!"

"Wait…do you think they're trying to train dragons now?" Hiccup asked.

"They're always trying to train dragons, but if I had to guess, I bet they're making Matt train dragons!" Astrid said.

"But we still have today to bring him the book!" Hiccup yelled, but quickly realizing that he needed to be quiet.

"You think Alvin was going to keep his word?" Astrid asked turning to Hiccup.

Hiccup didn't say a word, to which Astrid continued saying "I say our best bet is the arena...I'll lead the way since I know how to get there. We can fly behind these cliffs so we can't be spotted."

"Sounds like a plan…" Hiccup said staring at the direction of the arena "We just ne-"

An explosion sounded off at the docks, cutting off Hiccup. Not even bothering to finish what he was saying, Hiccup got up and ran to Toothless who was behind him; followed by Astrid and Snotlout.

Jumping on Toothless and not needing to check the tail, Hiccup urged Toothless to fly as fast he could. "Come on bud…we need to find Matt!"

* * *

Matt finished tightening a second rope around the Skrill. Thankfully the chest of chains and ropes wasn't burned when he was being chased by the dragon, allowing him to tie his snowboard bindings to the dragon. Positioned like they would be on a snowboard, Matt double checked the ropes to make sure they were tight enough to where they wouldn't slide.

"Perfect!" Matt said standing back to admire his work.

The Skrill looked at the contraption that was scrapped together. Then looking at Matt with an annoyed look, the Skrill groaned to show its displeasure with the idea.

Laughing, Matt rubbed his head with his beanie and shocked the Skrill on the nose, causing it smile. "Don't worry Wasatch, it's only temporary…" he said smiling broader "I know someone that will help us get a more comfy and safer strap."

He named his dragon Wasatch because of the mountain range in Utah was called that. They provided the best snow for boarding and skiing alike and fantastic views of over 10,000 feet high looking into low valleys…it seemed to be a fitting name for him.

Walking to the side of Wasatch, Matt was about to jump onto his back; when Wasatch suddenly lowered himself for Matt to easily climb on. Taken back by the action, Matt smiled and then slowly lifted himself up onto the back of the Skrill. Balancing on the back, Matt slowly strapped himself into the first binding. After doing so, he tested it out by moving his leg to try and move it. For a jerry rig of ropes, it held pretty well! Smiling broader now, Matt strapped his second foot into the last binding.

"Alright, feels good!" Matt said as he continued to balance on Wasatch. When Wasatch saw that he was on, he then began to walk around to let Matt learn to work with the movements.

Suddenly, an explosion sounded off in the distance. Looking at the directions from where the sound came from, Matt suddenly felt an anxious feeling. _"Could it be Hiccup? It's gotta be! They're coming for us!"_ Looking at Wasatch, Matt almost yelling said: "Get ready to go! We're going to get out of here bud!"

* * *

Astrid flew over the cliff that was giving them cover, flying directly to the arena. Hiccup and Snotlout were quickly behind her, scanning the village to make sure that they wouldn't miss Matt if he wasn't there.

"The Outcasts are all running to the docks! It's working!" Hiccup said excitedly as he looked at the black smoke lifting high into the air.

"Great! Just keep low to the ground; the longer they don't see us, the better." Astrid shouted back, staring intently at the arena.

Flying over the arena, the group saw Matt! But what surprised them more was that he was on a dragon!

"There he is! What's he doing!?" Astrid shouted, pointing to Matt.

Matt looked up to see the three circle around and land in front of the gate. Wasatch instantly went into a defensive mode, to which Matt stopped him and said "Easy buddy! They're friends!" Looking up at the three who dismounted off of their dragons, and Snotlout opening the gate by cranking the wheel, he said excitedly "Oh man it's good to see you guys! Ha! I have a story for all of you!"

"Matt, who in Thor's name is this!?" Hiccup asked running to the Skrill, who was still on edge.

"Easy, don't get close!" Matt said warningly "It's Wasatch! A Skrill! Almost killed me, but I accidently found out how to tame it!"

"It's bigger than what I thought it would look like…" Hiccup said in a daze

"Hey, I know it's cool that we found a new dragon, but the distraction is over! We have Outcasts heading our way right now!" Snotlout shouted a little panicky running in the arena with Hookfang following him closely.

"Think you can fly...like that?" Hiccup asked returning to a serious tone.

"Honestly, it might be the only way for me to fly!" Matt responded, crouching to get ready to launch.

"Alright follow us!" Hiccup shouted as he ran out to jump onto Toothless.

Breathing heavily, Matt pulled his snowboard goggles over his eyes. He was going dragon boarding! Astrid was the first to fly out of the arena with Hiccup close behind her. Matt braced himself to be shot into the air by crouching lower and leaning forward. Time slowing down, Matt felt himself catapulted into the air. Knocked back by the sudden launch, Matt grabbed one of the spikes along the Skrill's back. Finally adjusting to the speed, Matt found himself 50 feet in the air! Breathlessly, Matt looked around to see that Hiccup and Astrid were both flying next to him.

"I can't believe it! I'm riding my own dragon!" Matt shouted, fist pumping in the air just like he would after landing a trick on his snowboard.

"Focus! We need to get out of here before we start celebrating!" Astrid shouted; then looking behind her, shouted at Snotlout "Hurry up! Snotlout!"

"Ah! Astrid's calling me!" Snotlout said in joy as he jumped on Hookfang. Flying through the gate of the arena, Snotlout never saw Alvin's fist that clotheslined him off of his dragon. Reacting fast, Alvin grabbed Hookfang's horns and twisted them. Jumping on Hookfang, Alvin kicked him to make him fly.

"How'd he know that!?" Hiccup shouted in surprise as he saw the Alvin fly towards them.

"Oh no…He may have learned that fro-" Astrid began to say but was instantly cut off when Alvin yelled "Thank you for showing me how to train a Nightmare Astrid! I'll thank you more when I get you!"

"Scatter!" Hiccup shouted as he rolled Toothless to the left. Astrid rolled right and Matt lifted up with his front foot, guiding Wasatch to climb higher. _"Great! I finally train a dragon and now Alvin can fly one…" _Matt thought to himself, rolling his eyes. "Keep him busy! I'm going to get Snotlout!" Hiccup shouted again.

The Nightmare's roar suddenly sounded behind Matt, causing him to turn around to see Alvin closing in on him. Instinctively, Matt leaned backwards, causing Wasatch to roll with him. Completing half of a barrel roll, Matt started to dive in order to gain speed. Falling straight for a few seconds, Matt lifted up on his front leg again, pulling up and flying just above the rock plagued ground. It was surprising how much it was like snowboarding! Turning behind him, he saw that Alvin was having a little harder luck following him. Smiling, Matt lifted up and began to circle around the arena. Hiccup just picked up Snotlout and Astrid was flying around them, having Stormfly fire at the Outcasts that were getting close.

Flying past Astrid, Matt let Wasatch shoot a white stream of fire at a group of Outcasts. Diving out of the way, it successfully stopped them from coming closer. Banking around again, Matt flew next to Hiccup who was in the air by this time. "What's the plan?" he shouted, eyeing Alvin who was heading right for them.

"We need to get Hookfang back; I don't know how to do that yet, but we need to get away from the village!" Hiccup said looking at Alvin who was getting closer

"Whatever you do, don't kill Hookfang!" Snotlout said, almost crying out of worry.

"Got it! Now split!" Astrid shouted, banking right again.

Hiccup dove down and Matt once again climbed higher. Turning around, Matt saw Alvin chase Hiccup, making Hookfang shoot a stream of fire at Toothless.

"Come on Wasatch, let's give him something to shoot at!" Matt said, gritting his teeth and leaning forward as if he was carving down a mountain. Flying directly at Alvin, Matt saw Wasatch light up with electricity; covering all of his body with it. Narrowly missing Hookfang, Wasatch flew in-between Toothless and the Nightmare.

Hookfang stalled at the sudden flash of light that passed by him. Alvin was also taken off guard, which ticked him off. Refocusing on Matt, Alvin began to chase him.

"Matt, head out to the ocean! We need to get away from the island!" Astrid shouted above him.

Without looking at her, Matt just crouched and urged Wasatch to fly faster. Looking behind him, Matt saw Alvin urging Hookfang to go fast as well. Still covered in electricity, Wasatch never slowed down, getting a fair lead on Alvin. _"How do we get him off of Hookfang?"_ Matt thought _"He won't come all the way to Berk!"_ Looking around him, Matt saw that they were out of the island and over the ocean. Looking at Hiccup and Snotlout, who were both busy trying to come up with a plan themselves; and Astrid flying above them trying to talk with them. Matt suddenly had an idea as he saw Stormfly. Undoing his back binding, Matt planted his loose foot in front of a spike. Wasatch looked behind him to see what Matt was doing. "Its ok bud, we just need to climb now!" Matt said, focusing on balancing. It was significantly harder with only one foot strapped in.

Wasatch began to do so, climbing higher and higher with Alvin following him. Astrid and Hiccup were right behind Alvin, as if they had their own plan. Urging Wasatch to climb higher and steeper, Matt found himself holding the neck of his dragon in order to not dangle by his one foot. Reaching a height that satisfied him, Matt looked at Alvin who was right behind and under him; and then yelled at Wasatch "Come get me boy!" With that, Matt undid his last binding and fell straight backwards. Falling flat on his back, Matt could see Wasatch begin to free fall after him. Smiling, Matt tucked his knees into his chest and did a one rotation backflip. Falling feet first, Matt planted both snowboard boots into Alvin's chest. The collision of the two caused Alvin to be pushed off Hookfang. Falling past Astrid and Hiccup, Matt focused on Alvin.

"This is for breaking my $500 board!" Matt yelled as he planted his fist square in Alvin's face. Satisfied with the hit, Matt pushed off Alvin's chest; Matt looked up at Wasatch who was getting closer and closer. Matt then felt his boot grabbed. Looking down, Matt gasped; Alvin held onto Matt with one hand, and the other had a sword!

"This is because Hiccup never brought me the book!" Alvin yelled. With that, Alvin reached up and slashed Matt's thigh. Screaming in pain, Matt looked back up at Wasatch through tears and tinted goggles. The pain was surging through Matt's entire leg, causing him to look down at it. What frightened him the most was not the blood coming through his snowboard pants, but that they were less than a few hundred feet from the water below. Looking up at Wasatch, Matt reached up with his hand. "Good-bye buddy!" Then his world went black.

* * *

Astrid and Hiccup were diving after the Skrill. They couldn't believe what Matt had done, but when they saw Alvin and Matt crash into the ocean, they had a whole new mode of panic set in. The Skrill never stopped diving, but instead went right into the ocean. Hiccup and Astrid both began to fly in circles around the area where they had fallen in.

"Why did he do that!?" Astrid asked loudly, almost yelling.

"I don't know!" Hiccup responded out of anger and hysteria. "He didn't have to do that!"

The three along with Hookfang, who was flying with them now, kept on circling; unsure of what they should do. Then just as a suddenly as it disappeared, the Skrill shot out of the water; in his claws was the lifeless looking body of Matt.

"He's got him!" Hiccup shouted with joy "He's found Matt!"

The Skrill flew around the group and ended up following them, as if to have them lead the way. Instantly Hiccup, Astrid, and Snotlout, who was picked up by Hookfang, began to make way to Berk; with Matt still in Wasatch's claws.


	10. Chapter Nine - Now What?

**Wow…the final chapter for The Dragon Boarder! I hope you guys enjoyed this, even if it was short. At the end of the chapter I have a little tidbit of my next story, 'The Redemption of the Dragon Riders'; note that it'll probably change a little in the actual story. It probably won't be posted for a long time also, because I'm swearing Fanfiction off until schools over, so I can focus on that for now. Well as usual**

**Enjoy, it's been fun!**

**-Dustnblood**

Chapter 9 – Now what…

The world began to come together for Matt. Stirring slowly Matt tried to look around. Everything was blurry. Closing his eyes, he tried to think where he was at. He last remembered falling…falling from somewhere high. For some reason it was painful to…his leg…It hurt to just think about it. Opening his eyes again, just as slow as he did before, Matt tried to look around. Objects were starting to appear, but just as blurs and odd shapes. Breathing deeply, Matt tried to lift himself up. He was doing fine until he moved his left leg.

"Errgghhhh….." Matt groaned as he slid back into whatever he was laying on. His thigh was throbbing with pain. _"Why does it hurt so bad?"_ he thought. Resting for a minute, Matt tried to piece together the last few memories he could go back to.

_"I was falling…why was I falling?"_ He thought _"I jumped off something…a dragon…yeah, a dragon that I was riding…Wasatch."_ Opening his eyes for a third time, Matt tried to find the only thing he could remember to that point. Slowly, he began to see not a purple dragon, but two figures standing in front of his bed. The blurs slowly began to fade as detail returned to his eyes. One of them was thin, and the other was a lot bigger. The bigger one had a horned helmet while the other only had a fur vest.

"Hiccup…" Matt smiled weakly.

"Dad he's getting up! He's actually pulling through!" Hiccup said excitedly, having a hard time not rushing over to pull Matt out of bed.

"Easy, let him recover a little bit Hiccup." Stoick's voice said.

"Heh…it's good to hear you guys…" Matt said weakly, trying to sit himself up.

"Honestly we were worried you were dead when…Wasatch? I can't remember his name; anyways, when he carried you all the way to Berk we thought you were dead! It took us forever to get you away from him; he wouldn't even let us get five feet from you!" Hiccup said excitedly.

Matt's eyesight was returning, allowing him to see much better than before. Able to see that he was back in Hiccup's house, Matt smiled as he saw his snowboard coat hung up on the wall where the remainder of his gear was at. "Well, mind helping me up?" he grinned.

"Uh…well yeah no problem, but you should know your leg was cut pretty bad and…" Hiccup said slowly.

It hit Matt right there. Alvin cut his leg. Moving the covers slowly off of him, Matt looked at the bandaged leg. Though it was tightly wrapped and very clean, blood was still leaking out of it. "Has it stopped bleeding?" Matt asked staring at his leg.

This time Stoick spoke up. "No…it hasn't. Your leg is going to take a while to heal, maybe a year." Stoick waited for second for Matt to soak up this information. "I promise you that we'll have you up and running within the next few months! It just won't be completely healed."

Matt looked at his leg and then asked "Will I be able to ride Wasatch?"

Hiccup jumped in at this, saying "Yes! I made something for you, a brace! It'll keep your leg from moving around as much, but it'll let you stand on Wasatch without straining your leg!"

Smiling weakly at Hiccup, Matt whispered "Thanks that means a lot to me." Then moving his leg tenderly over the edge of the bed, asked "Can I see Wasatch? Where is he?"

"He's outside!" Hiccup replied excitedly "If you're up to it, we can go fly today!"

"I'd like that…" Matt responded.

Matt was a little embarrassed that he needed help to get into his Levi's, but was happy that they were repaired from the slashed hole in them. His snowboard pants weren't so lucky. The impact of the water totally shredded them, making them beyond repair. His coat also took a beating, but it was mostly from the Outcasts when they captured him. Next to his coat was his beanie hat and goggles, with a leather bag next to them. Opening the bag, Matt found that it was most of the gear that Alvin threw into the water when he tore his bag. A few Clif bars, his flashlight, and a dagger, the one that his dad gave him for the trip to the ski resort.

"You found these for me?" Matt asked looking up at Hiccup.

"Well yeah! We weren't going to let your stuff rot in the ocean! By the way, that's an interesting dagger…" Hiccup said grinning a little bit.

Finishing putting his gear on as well as putting the new back pack on, Matt smiled and said: "Yeah, reminds me of someone who has a similar looking one."

Laughing the two slowly walked to the door, with Stoick behind them. The pain in Matt's thigh wasn't lessening, but the fact that he was getting closer to his dragon helped him push through.

Hiccup opened the door to let a flood of light in. Covering his eyes, Matt limped out into the cool air. As soon as his eyes adjusted, he saw a big purple dragon sleeping in the snow next to the porch that Matt was on. "Wasatch, you just going to sleep all day? Come on and say hi!" Matt shouted, bracing himself against the wall of the house.

The Skrill instantly looked up to see Matt and roared with happiness. Running to him, the Skrill shocked Matt out of joy. Almost jump starting him, Matt laughed and rubbed his head with the beanie and shocked the Skrill in return. Letting out a roar of happiness, Wasatch then rubbed his head into Matt's chest; encouraging him to rub its head. Laughing, Matt began to scratch the forehead of the massive head.

Completely lost in the moment, Matt felt something push him from the back. Turning around, Matt was staring straight into Hookfang's face. Looking around him were all the dragons and their trainers.

"Well, it's good to see you up and walking!" Astrid smiled as she dismounted off of Stormfly.

"I wouldn't call it walking, more like hobbling!" Matt said laughing a little as he limped towards her. "It'll take some time but I'll get back to normal."

"That was awesome!" Snotlout shouted, still seated in his saddle on Hookfang. "You jumped off your dragon and did a flip to land on Alvin! That was so cool! Also! When you were a ball of sparks!"

The compliment took Matt by surprise, but laughed at the excitement in Snotlout's voice. "Thanks I guess…"

"They have a word for that Snotlout…electricity!" Astrid said annoyed. "About that though, how were you not shocked? It was amazing, but we were pretty confused at that.

Matt thought about it for a second and then said "I guess because I wasn't grounded…The electricity wasn't connecting to the ground so it was just…I don't know how to explain it, but it wasn't running on a path. Does that make sense?"

Astrid and Snotlout just stared at him, obviously lost; to which he rephrased "The electricity never really went through me. It was 'floating'"

Hiccup then spoke up to change the subject, saying: "I made some new harnesses for Wasatch; I tied your bindings to them as well. I think it'll be a little more comfortable for him and more secure for you."

Matt turned to observe the new straps. They were made of leather, which laid flat along the chest of the Skrill. Rubbing his hand down the leather, Matt looked at his bindings. They were even more secure than when he put it together. "Thank Hiccup…that means a lot to me and I'm sure Wasatch." Matt said softly as he tugged at one of the bindings.

"Come on! Let's test it out!" Astrid said smiling as she walked back to Stormfly. "Think you'll be able to stand on your leg?"

"Got that brace Hiccup?" Matt asked smiling broader now.

"Right here!" Hiccup said, holding an odd looking L shaped bracket.

Holding the brace in his hand, Matt saw that it had at the section where the shorter bracket connected to the longer one, moving on a pivot; allowing only up and down movement. Having an idea on how to put it on, and help from Hiccup and Wasatch to balance him, Matt slowly and painfully attached the brace to his leg. After succeeding at the feat, Matt walked slowly around, testing its sturdiness. It did indeed help him stand up and walk more normal; what it didn't do was kill the pain that surged in his leg. "Ahahhhhh…" he gasped as he stopped walking "I think it'll work! I'm able to stand and walk at least."

"Think you should rest a little longer before you fly?" Stoick asked who was quietly observing Matt walk around.

"Probably, but just for memories sake I want to fly." Matt said smiling at Stoick.

Nodding in understanding, Stoick said "Well good luck! I'll see you later today then!" with that he began to walk up to the Great Hall.

Walking up to Wasatch, Matt prepared to hoist himself up. Wasatch instantly lowered himself to the ground, allowing Matt to strap in without having to balance himself. "Thanks bud…" Matt said smiling. Struggling for a few minutes, Matt almost fell off of Wasatch a few times while trying to strap his bad leg in. A few more attempts at it and Matt finally was set to fly.

"Alright, Ready!" he shouted as he balanced himself with Wasatch walking up to the other dragons.

With that, Hiccup was the first to go, instantly followed by Astrid and Fishlegs. The twins and Snotlout were right behind them. Pulling his goggles down, Matt crouched and leaned forward, feeling himself propelled into the air. The Skrill let out a roar of happiness as they followed the mob of dragons. The group was flying all over the place, high in the sky, low near the trees; doing tricks like loops, twists, and improvised moves. Matt was simply enjoying himself, knowing he wouldn't be able to do anything serious for a while. Seeing Hiccup and Astrid above him, he guided Wasatch up to them.

"How's your leg holding up?" Hiccup asked when he saw Matt fly next to him.

"It's good; all my weight is on my back leg so nothing is really straining it right now." Matt said as he began to carve through the air as he would going down a mountain.

The three simply flew in circles, going higher and higher with each rotation. It was fun for Matt to fly without having to be worried about being shot down or chased by another dragon, this was fun for him. After a few circles though his good leg was getting tired of holding all the weight to which he asked Hiccup and Astrid if they could land on top of the center mountain. Agreeing, they all made way to where Matt originally came from, with the cave and ledge.

After landing, Hiccup and Astrid had to help Matt balance while he unstrapped himself from Wasatch. Tenderly climbing down the Skrill's back, Matt sighed in relief as his leg rested. Leaning against the mouth of the cave, Matt along with Hiccup and Astrid, looked down from the mountain. It was beautiful with the white snow in contrast with the blue sky and ocean. Matt felt good, from his leg throbbing from the pain.

"It seems to be more beautiful than before" Astrid commented, speaking what all of them were thinking.

"I agree…" Matt reaffirmed "It's more powerful than when I first came here."

The three kept on looking at the scenery, soaking it in. Their dragons were behind them, each standing behind their trainer.

It wasn't until Toothless started to growl at something. All three trainers turned to see what was bugging him. Facing the cave, Toothless was crouched in a defensive position, with Stormfly and Wasatch each doing the same.

"What is it girl?" Astrid asked holding her axe at the ready.

Hiccup was also confused, turning Matt to ask a question to which he saw that he was in a cold sweat. "What's wrong Matt? Do you need to go back to the house?" Hiccup said with concern in his voice.

Matt said nothing, only dropping his head. Pulling off his goggles, he revealed that tears were pouring out of his eyes.

"Matt what's wrong!?" Astrid asked with equal concern. The dragons took their attention away from the cave to look at Matt as well.

"I do need to go back Hiccup, but not to your house." Matt whispered "The dead end is gone…I can go back now…"

Shock riveted through Hiccups face when he heard this. Looking at the cave, he didn't know what to think or say.

"I don't want to go back," Matt continued turning to Hiccup "but it's not right for me to stay here…we both know that Hiccup."

Looking back at Matt, Hiccup began to nod, tears swelling in his eyes as well "I know…I just wish it didn't have to be this way."

Walking to Hiccup, Matt grabbed him and held him in a hug. The two never let go for a few minutes, crying and not saying anything. Finally letting go of each other, Matt looked at Astrid who just walked up and hugged him. Not as long or emotional as Hiccup's and Matt's, but sentimental enough to get the message across. Looking at the two, Matt then walked over to Wasatch, who looked confused at what was going on.

"I'm sorry bud…I wish I could take you with me, but I don't think my people will take to dragons very well…" Matt said, scratching Wasatch's head. Then rubbing his head with the beanie, he shocked the Skrill a few times. In response, the Skrill shocked Matt a few times to. Chuckling and crying at the same time, Matt slowly began to undo the straps around his dragon's chest. Treating them with reverence, Matt carefully laid them out just inside of the cave. "Wasatch…thanks for saving my life…I'll be back if and as soon as I can…" Hugging his dragon, Matt looked into Wasatch's eyes "I promise…"

The Skrill swung one of its wings around Matt, as if trying hug him back. Tears were flowing down Matt's face as he finally backed away from his friends. Pulling out his flashlight from the bag, Matt took one last look at those that were watching. Then, looking forward, limped into the cave.

It was a lot harder for him to maneuver around the rocks with his leg, but after a few minutes he found where he first walked into the cave. The charcoal remains from the fire he lit to stay were still there. Looking around his cave, Matt took one last look behind him, to only find a dead end. A wall seemed to have magically been placed where he came from.

Tears pouring out of his eyes, Matt slowly walked out of the cave; not looking back again.

* * *

**EPILOUGE**

Matt was eventually found by a search party. He was missing for a total of 8 days. His excuse for being lost and not able to be found was that he was snowboarding and crashed, tearing his leg and breaking most of his equipment. He lived in a cave until his leg was a little better and he made a brace for it. His family, friends, and sponsors were relieved that he was ok. However, with his leg injured and wasn't going to heal for a long time; the sponsors soon pulled away from Matt, leaving him to be just a local snowboard bum. Matt was crushed at this, but quickly pulled out of it by applying more of himself in school, to which he graduated that year. His leg eventually healed and Matt was able to snowboard again, even though he walked with a slight limp from then on. Now, Matt lives in a southern Utah community, working at a board shop he owns called 'Strike-Class Boards'; with the strike class symbol as his trademark. People thought it was a cool name and cool logo, but only Matt and his dad knew what it meant. People asked why he decided to open his board shop, to which he always replies with "Eh, well I love snowboarding, wakeboarding, longboarding, any kind of boarding. I lost my sponsorship so I had to settle for the next best thing! Might as well do something that I love right?"

There are some nights Matt dreams that he's flying, flying on the back of a purple dragon covered in electricity. Every time he has a dream like that, Matt gets out of bed and looks out of a window to see the mountain where he found the cave. He promised Wasatch that he would come back, and that was a promise he was going to keep.

* * *

Here's that sneak peak at my next story! PM if you have questions and such, or if you liked what you read! Thanks!

-Dustnblood

**The Redemption of the Dragon Riders**

"Look Sadie…I know that you love the dragons and have even fought some nasty political wars to keep them safe, that I can respect. But for me, I hate them…I hate them and The Deprived; and it's not a hate that came from others telling me to hate 'em, or from those that fear them, because trust me, I don't fear them. This hate is something that runs in me. They're both the reason why my brother was killed and America's fallen. Those who are left of the Americans are fighting to survive because they never made it here in Europe. I honestly can't explain why I hate them so much, but trust me when I say that this hate is my driving force to fight them. That and my dad are the only reason why I want to live." Talon finished. He was breathing loudly now with the adrenaline running through his veins.

Sadie just sat there and stared at him, almost searching for an answer. Not finding anything to say back, she sat back into her chair and turned to face the courtyard.

Sighing, Talon then said "I don't care if others help the dragons, but I'm not going to be part of it…Don't judge me because of my experiences with dragons…please…I never wanted to come to D.U.T.I but my dad sent me to keep me out of trouble. Whatever that means."

"I'm not judging you; I'm just confused." Sadie replied, still looking into the country side. "Why do you talk about the Night Fury so much then?"

Talon took a deep breath and then took his turn to look off the balcony. "I guess because he has a hate to humans as I do to dragons. It's weird, I can almost…feel? If that's the right way to describe it, I can almost feel the hate in him; and what's weird is that it feels like the same as mine…"

Sadie looked at Talon and said "I bet he can feel your hate to then…he wouldn't stop staring at you when we walked through D.U.T.I.'s dragon clinic."

"I'm still haunted by those eyes…" Talon said, standing up and leaning on the balcony "It was the only time I ever felt…connected to something. Honestly it scared me! Hah! Seeing missiles exploding, ships sinking, jets shot down and I'm totally fine, but just looking into the dragon's eyes has caused more psychological damage to me than anything else."

"Talon, I think you're more connected to that dragon than you're giving it credit for. I'm betting that you'll come around with the dragons soon enough." Sadie said smiling slightly as she stood up and leaned against Talon.

"You know…I hope you're right…This hate is destroying me, consuming me even; I need to learn to let go." Talon said looking down and frowning "But until then, my feelings are staying as they are. I hate them."


End file.
